A TALENTED young musician from Dorchester hopes to make it big after signing a record deal with a US label.

Nick Capaldi, 28, will begin touring the southern states next month before getting to work on his first studio album.

The guitarist is the great nephew of drummer Jim Capaldi, who played in the rock band Traffic, and said his musical heritage helped get his career going.

Nick, who currently works as an assistant at Dorchester library, has been signed to independent label A-Reaction Records, based in Minneapolis.

The musician, of Cambridge Road, Dorchester, said: “This has happened largely because of Traffic which my great uncle Jim played in.

“It was easier for me to stir up interest because I’m related to him and Americans used to like my great uncle’s solo stuff.

“I’ve ended up being offered three deals at once, including one from the Minneapolis label, another in Nashville and one in Scotland.”

Nick will be flying over to the US in September for a three-week tour of Minnesota, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Chicago, Illinois.

He has been signed to A-Reaction Records for 12 months and already has a single called Colour I See available to buy as an MP3 download from the Amazon website.

After the southern states tour, Nick will be returning to the Minneapolis studio to begin working on his first album.

He said: “I would say my music is kind of psychedelic rock meets alternative country. I’m really looking forward to getting over there and I’ve just been getting prepared for it really.

“I’ve had to get my passport renewed because it was out of date and I’ve been doing a lot of rehearsing just to get everything perfect.”

Nick has been writing songs since he was 14 and played his first live set aged 16. Success came for him after a band he used to play with won a ‘battle of the bands’ style competition at a gig at Weymouth’s Wessex Stadium in 2004.

He said the win helped him make contacts in the music industry and secure more solo gigs around the UK.

Nick, who was born in Bristol and moved to Dorchester aged eight, added: “It’s quite funny that I was sending stuff out to record labels for years while I was playing with bands but after going solo I was pretty much offered three deals straight away.”

For the next 12 months Nick will be jetting back and forth across the pond for recording sessions and tours, including one he is hoping to take part in alongside US rock band Incubus.