JAMES JORDAN grew up listening to The Beatles when his grandparents played cassettes of their songs in the car driving on long road trips on holiday. Now the Middlesbrough-born musician makes a living in tribute bands recreating the Fab Four’s music.

In January, he joined the Upbeat Beatles as drummer. He’d already worked with them on a freelance basis, and was keen to join as they revamped their show, which comes to Darlington Civic Theatre next week.

“It’s the most local gig I’ve done in about five years,” says Jordan. “I know the lads in Upbeat Beatles really well and they’re fantastic players. I enjoy working with them.”

Originally, he took up drums to accompany his brother, Richard, who’d started playing guitar. He built his drum kit from old boxes and chopsticks before getting his first drum kit from his parents as a Christmas present.

He and his brother formed a band which performed locally, and Jordan continued playing while studying at Middlesbrough College. That band turned into the Beatlemaniacs which performed internationally across Europe and on TV’s Blue Peter. They toured New Zealand where the audience included Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson, who invited them for a tour of his film studio and warehouse of film memorabilia.

Then Jordan studied music and performance at Teesside University. He continued to perform, standing in for drummers on bands including the Backbeat Beatles, Imagine The Beatles as well as Upbeat Beatles. He worked on Beatles shows on cruise ships, proposing to girlfriend Jess during one of the shows in front of 2,000 people.

“The Beatles tribute scene is massive, there are over 500 tribute bands. But we’ve got a good fan base and are playing some new venues,” he says.

“Other tribute band play different kinds of gigs. We do more theatres. It’s more satisfying playing in theatres because people have paid to see you. In pubs or clubs they might be there anyway and haven’t just come to see you.”

He doesn’t look anything like Ringo off-stage but years of listening to Beatles music and watching videos of them have helped him get into the Ringo mindset.

Amid why does he think The Beatles are still so popular? “They weren’t like other bands – they were four individuals.

They’ve set the standard for so many bands around the world and their music is timeless,” he says.

  • Upbeat Beatles: Darlington Civic Theatre, March 26. Box office 01325-486555 and online at darlingtonarts.co.uk