A GREENOCK musician says he and his bandmates were ‘ecstatic’ to secure a slot at Scotland’s biggest musical festival as they were crowned winners of a major BBC contest.

Bottle Rockets saw off competition from hundreds of artists to be named as BBC Introducing’s Scottish Act of the Year for 2024.

The band is made up of 24-year-old local bassist Andrew Cummings, plus singer Kenzi Murray, guitarist John Tamburrini and drummer Sam Rae.

They entered the competition after gaining radio plays through the BBC Introducing platform.

After making an eight-strong shortlist from more than 500 entries, Bottle Rockets were voted into the final by members of the public.

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They were one of four acts who took part in the final, which was filmed at Platform in Glasgow.

The band performed their original song Limerence and a cover of Fontaines DC’s I Love You in front of  a judging panel featuring Twin Atlantic’s Sam McTrusty, rapper Bemz, Fatherson frontman Ross Leighton and radio presenter Jess Iszatt.

Andrew, a former Notre Dame High School pupil, told the Tele: “We did not expect to get this far at all.

“We were absolutely thrilled as we got to each stage because it was so unexpected.

“We were delighted just to be shortlisted, and then we were ecstatic to make the final.

“To us, it felt like we’d already won just getting there.

“We want to thank everyone who voted for us. We got so much support from down here.

“My old school shared it about and a lot of my old teachers too – they’ve done us a massive turn to help us get to the final.”

As part of their prize, Bottle Rockets now join the line up for Glasgow’s TRNSMT festival – which takes place in July.

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They will also receive a bespoke PR campaign and two recording sessions at BBC Radio Scotland.

Andrew said he is excited to be part of a ‘promising’ music scene in Inverclyde.

He added: “It’s an area that’s got a knack for it. You’ve got bands like SLIX, they’re doing amazing.

“They’ve just played over in Sweden and they played TRSNMT last year.

“It’s nice to be on the same level as these guys now and be in amongst it.”

Bottle Rockets are now looking ahead to a headline gig at King Tut's in Glasgow on April 18.

Tickets are on sale now at kingtuts.co.uk.