JAMIE Lawson will play York Barbican on October 10 and, and if you weren't expecting that, what's more it will be his only date in North or West Yorkshire.

The Plymouth singer-songwriter rose to the top of the album charts with his self-titled debut on the back of Wasn't Expecting That reaching number one too. The album has sold more than 250,000 copies, the single, 400,000, as Lawson struck sudden gold at the ripe old pop age of 40.

Lawson is midway through a sold-out run of dates, after his support slot for One Direction last autumn, and will return to the road for 18 shows from October 4 to 27, when he plays a hometown finale.

He was the first act to sign to Ed Sheeran's label, as his fellow singer-songwriter recalls. "I first became aware of Jamie Lawson a few years ago, after hearing his song Wasn’t Expecting That. I very rarely get emotional over a track, but that song stopped me dead. He manages to put across such raw emotion within his work, and I knew immediately that I wanted to work with this guy in some way," says Sheeran.

"Having decided to start my own label, Gingerbread Man Records, with my label Atlantic Records, the first artist I had to sign was Jamie. Starting Gingerbread Man Records means I can put music I love out there on a huge platform, and Jamie seemed like the perfect choice for my first release.”

Sheeran features on a live video version of Lawson's new single, Cold In Ohio, shot last summer at Lawson’s headline show at the Barfly in London. In the whirlwind that followed Lawson's signing, he toured with Sheeran across the world, as he went from playing to 150 people at the Barfly to opening for One Direction on their final full UK arena tour.

Tickets for October 10 go on sale at £20 on Friday from 10am on 0844 854 2757, at yorkbarbican.co.uk or from the Barbican box office in person.