MEET the funk and soul band who have notched up tens of millions of video views and three sold-out tours, but the chances are you probably have never heard of them...yet.

Facebook phenomenon Brother Strut make their York debut on Friday night at Fibbers, on the back of doing everything from their attic: no promoters, no record labels, armed only with a mobile phone and a musical talent that has seen them twice fill The Jazz Café in London.

In 2012, band leader Stevie Jones formed Brother Strut by cherry-picking musicians who had worked with, deep breath, Amy Winehouse, Al Green, The Temptations, Herbie Hancock, Jamiroquai, Mark Ronson, Van Morrison, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Madonna, Sting and George Michael.

In the line-up are Jones on saxophone and/keyboards; Paul Turner on bass; Frankie Tontoh on drums; Otha Smith on electric guitar; Sam Tanner on keyboards and lead vocals, and Karl Vanden Bossche on percussion.

"We stopped creating music for pop artists, and started creating a vibe that excited us," says Jones. "We then connected with this audience directly on Facebook."

Bypassing record labels, promoters and distributors to talk directly to the fans was important to him. "Musicians have often compromised their art to satisfy the demands of the major record labels, but Facebook has enabled us to connect directly to an audience that isn't being catered for by the mainstream channels."

This spring, Brother Strut have followed up their 2013 debut, First Strut Is The Deepest, with their second album, What We Got Together, available through brotherstrut.com and now backed up by this month's joyous tour.

“Our Facebook videos blow up each time we post one," says Stevie. "I think it’s because people can tell music makes us happy, and they feel like they’re invited to join us. There’s lots of music out there that takes itself very seriously. Ours is about happiness, fun and making people smile, and we all need a bit of that, don’t we?”

Looking forward to Friday night in York, Stevie says: "It's such an exciting time for us, as is this the first time we've done a full UK tour and we're going to lots of new cities. We cannot wait to come and bring our flavour of funk and soul music to York! I chat to a lot of people online about the band, but it's one thing them sharing a video on social media, and another thing seeing lots of smiley faces singing along to your songs. We're super excited to see you all."

Brother Strut play Fibbers, York, on Friday, supported by Groove Train at 7.30pm. Box office: fibbers.co.uk