A BOLTON band is ending 2017 with a series of gigs to thank their fans.

The Jade Assembly is celebrating a year of live music and record success after its latest single nearly made chart history.

As a way of thanking their dedicated band of followers – dubbed the Jade Army – the indie four-piece will be playing two home town gigs next month.

The Bolton boys hit the stage at both The Blind Tiger and Bob's Smithy over the festive period.

Frontman John Foster said: "We wanted to do two big home town shows and go into next year and do it all over again.

"This has been our best year so far and we want to say thank you to everybody from Bolton for supporting us!

"We have some big summer festivals lined up for next year and are ready to release one more single in early March or April – and then the album mid summer.

"We are aiming to do this fulltime – it's the dream job – and the feeling is we are nearly there!"

The group has been a stalwart of the Bolton and North West music scene for the last four years.

Joining John are lead guitarist Gareth Smedley, bassist Daniel Hayes and drummer Andy Watson.

Earlier this year they were at Wolverhampton-based Magic Garden Recording Studio, working with producer Gavin Monaghan, who has more than 25 years experience in the industry with the likes of Ocean Colour Scene and The Twang.

The outcome of this partnership has lead to the release of Got My Star and its pre-sales saw 500 copies of the track on limited edition 7" vinyl sell out in just a week.

It meant the track was right on the edge of the UK top 40 vinyl charts and almost made history with Jade becoming the first unsigned band to chart.

John adds: "It narrowly missed out on the chart but we have ordered another 100 copies because it's been popular.

"We are happy with the reaction and the track also got played by the BBC and national radio stations."

Got My Star is available for download and on Spotify from December 4.

Catch The Jade Assembly at Blind Tiger in Nelson Square on December 23 where they play alongside The Attic Doctors, Bliss, Toria Rose Wooff and Holly Jenkinson.

They then return for one more outing before 2018 with a special acoustic set at Bob's Smithy Inn in Chorley old Road on December 27.