A Newbury guitarist says giving local bands the chance to showcase their music on the radio will spur them on to do bigger and better things.

The Screenbeats will be the first band to feature on The Next Big Thing on Newbury Sound tonight.

The new music-based show with Adrian Clarkson and Shirley Swain will back West Berkshire's musicians week after week.

Clive Drew from The Screenbeats said: "There's a lot of bands in Newbury and by having a station doing a show like this I think it just incentivizes bands to work harder, write better material and get it produced properly so it's playable on the radio.

"Then they can aim to get air play here and there and once they do that it snowballs and there will be several other things they can do.

"I just think it is a fantastic opportunity."

You can hear The Next Big Thing tonight on Newbury Sound from 7pm.

Click here to check out The Screenbeats on MySpace.