Jo celebrates success of local musical talent

3.43.35pm GMT Mon 2nd Feb 2009

Jo Swinson has congratulated local musician Tommy Reilly on winning the 2009 Orange Unsigned Act award.

Tommy won the contest, which describes itself as "a nationwide competition to find the best unsigned musical talent in the UK", based on phone-in votes from viewers of the live final on Channel 4. Tommy's prize is a record deal with major label Universal, a £60,000 advance and a multimedia marketing campaign. Tommy's single, 'Give Me a Call'. debuted on Sunday at number 14 in the UK singles chart.

Tommy has previously been named 'Artist of the Month' by local radio station Clyde 1, as well as being 'Unsigned Hero of the Week' to BBC Radio 1's Vic Galloway.

Jo has written Tommy a letter of congratulations on his success. Commenting, she said:

"This result is fantastic - I'm thrilled that we have so many talented young people in East Dunbartonshire. It's no surprise that Glasgow is a UNESCO City of Music with people like Tommy, and of course Amy MacDonald, doing us proud. Tommy fully deserves his success after all his hard work, and I look forward to hearing the album when it's recorded."