John Smith wasn’t like the other boys at school.

While they listened to Britpop, he learned the songs of Nick Drake, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn.

It wasn’t just folk that interested him.While most schoolmates followed Britpop bands, he was listening to Led Zeppelin.

“I remember sitting in art class in the fourth year at school listening to Led Zep and the other kids not getting it at all,” he says.

He flunked everything at school - and even got a D in music, even though he’d started playing gigs as a 14-year-old.

After a period of busking and gigging he went to Liverpool University to study music and landed steady gigs on the folk circuit and built his reputation.

His latest album, Hummingbird, has had rave reviews and mixes his own songs with traditional folk tunes such as Lord Franklin, Hares on the Mountain and Unquiet Grave which dates back to the 1400s.

It was a labour of love to dig into his roots and he performs his songs solo at The Brickyard, Carlisle, tomorrow.