A SINGER from Malham hopes his feel-good song with a strong Yorkshire flavour ‘Very Merry Christmas’ will be a big hit this festive season.

Dan Horsman, 27, has already experienced a taste of fame when earlier this year he made a brief appearance on the Greg James show on Radio One after listeners were invited to help make a British version of ‘Old Town Road’ with the help of American rapper Lil Nas X.

Dan was such a hit with his Northern accent that he went on to record a full-on Yorkshire version of the song which Greg played on his breakfast show.

He was then invited to join the Skipton Musical Theatre Company, and with members acting as backing singers, they produced a video for his ‘Yorkshire Song’ with the aim of raising money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

He has now written and released his debut single, ‘Very Merry Christmas’ once again with members of the theatre company as backing singers, and with his friend, Tom Collinson, providing the backing track.

A Youtube video has been seen by more than 1,000 people, and it has had 17,000 hits on Facebook. The song is also available on Apple Music, Spotify, iTunes and all other major streaming/download platforms.

Dan, who works as a kitchen fitter, said he was inspired by 80s singers, such as Shakin’ Stevens and the band Wizzard and wanted to come up with a modern twist of the old, feel good classics.

“Skipton Musical Theatre Company really inspired me to have more enthusiasm in life. Joining them and having a new group of friends that felt almost like a family helped me to realise I had a lot more potential than I’d ever given myself credit for and so I decided to do something ridiculously ambitious and write a Christmas song,” he said.

“The song itself is a typical song that I feel is reminiscent of some of the classics from the good old days. Everyone says every year ‘Why don’t they make them like they used to?’ This song is my answer to that question.

"It’s about everything that people love at Christmas, but I also wanted to include a little bit of my story in the song. Midway through it takes a turn in a slightly unexpected direction and addresses those who feel alone at Christmas."

He added: "The lyrics talk about someone who feels like nobody is there for them, feels alone and like there’s no way out, but eventually they come to realise that actually their friends are there just like they always have been. It then builds back up into a final big chorus where everyone is now together enjoying themselves and celebrating Christmas."

To see Dan making the video with Skipton Musical Theatre Company, go to: https://youtu.be/82mfAgvUMI0