THE days of racking up a £45,000 food bill while recording an album have long gone for most bands.

And although the music industry has changed since James Grant started out in 1982, as songwriter and guitarist in Friends Again, the musician is still enjoying a successful career.

Widely regarded as one of the finest singer-songwriters around, the Love And Money frontman returns to The Met, Market Street, Bury, tonight.

He said: “It’s a small tour, maybe about 15 dates.

“I’ve played The Met four or five times now. I think we’ve built up a good following there and people seem to like me.

“I really enjoy it and the people at the theatre always look after you.”

The Scottish singer will play music from his critically acclaimed solo albums, including his latest offering The Devil's Debt, and a smattering of old favourites in a solo acoustic setting.

He said: “It’s maybe too close to the bone for some people, but that’s the kind of music I like and I write.

“I get inspiration from everywhere. If I go to a pub, I might focus on the detail of things.

“I constantly have bits of paper in my pocket with half-scribbled ideas.

“I read a lot when I was younger and I still do, I guess that’s inspiration. But pretty much everywhere.”

He signed a record deal at 18, later forming Love and Money along with drummer Stuart Kerr and keyboardist Paul McGeechan.

He said: “I started off wanting to be a footballer. I think that’s that kind of common truth about working class people.

“It was the two ways out, music or football.”

It was while recording album Strange Kind Of Love, in New York, that the group enjoyed working with The Eagles and the best producers in the business.

He said: “I think it would be completely different now. There’s not really a modern equivalent of what we did with Love and Money.

“We spent eight months in New York and the food bill was £45,000.

“We were moderately successful and we sold half a million albums worldwide.

“People don’t sell as many records anymore. There are only, realistically, three record companies. It’s very different.

“We were on Phonogram. Dire Straits were on Phonogram, and one in three homes had a copy of Brothers in Arms.

“In those days, the music business made an absolute fortune. ”

n James Grant, supported by Karl Culley, will be at The Met at 8pm.