Yorkshire singer Alistair Griffin to do socially-distanced tour of fans' driveways and back gardens

Alistair Griffin has announced a tour where fans decide where he should go to perform, with shows all done within social-distancing guidelines.

He hopes to finish in County Cork, Ireland with a special show for one fan who is living with cancer, as a way of saying thank you for the support.

The York-based singer broke onto the music scene after winning the BBC show Fame Academy in 2003, and has since had two top-20 singles and a top-20 album in the UK.

In 2014, he released 'The Road' with former Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh, which was the official song for the Tour de France's Grand Depart in Yorkshire.

"As musicians we're very limited as to what we can do right now," said the 42-year-old.

"We are always having to adapt but it doesn't look great at the moment for live musicians – a lot of us rely on the festival and gig scene during the summer."

Mr Griffin said he had recorded an album of cover tracks during the lockdown, which he managed to do from his own home, and has been performing gigs on Facebook live broadcasts.

"I'm doing a socially-distanced tour going out and playing for people," he added.

"Of course, it will all be within the rules. I'll be asking fans where they want me to play, tell me where they are in the country and hopefully I'll be getting in a campervan and playing on people's driveways, back gardens and patios.

"Doing all these live streams you get to interact with your fans a lot more. This tour was sparked by a lady who has been watching them and has been living with cancer, so she has had to properly isolate and hasn't been able to go out at all.

"At some point I'll be going over [to Ireland] to play in her home town in Skibbereen, but the Irish lockdown rules are a bit different and stricter, so I will have to see how it goes."

Mr Griffin said he was also working on another original album after crowdfunding during the lockdown.

"The tour will be entirely Facebook-driven," he added.

"It will be a blank canvas. Just tell me where you are in the country and we will see what happens."