Ellis-Bextor to visit town's indie record shop

A record shop that has its origins in the Covid-19 lockdown is to host Sophie Ellis-Bextor later this year - a singer who kept up spirits during the pandemic with her online "kitchen discos".

Her visit to Applestump Records in Nantwich is part of her tour of record shops to promote her eighth album - an idea that store owner Steve Cook said he pitched to her management.

Mr Cook said the business had gone from strength to strength since its modest beginnings.

He told BBC Radio Stoke how it grew from a hobby of visiting different cities to buy records. That became difficult during the pandemic, so he started doing his own dealing - initially from his driveway before branching out.

"It's bonkers, isn't it? I never in my wildest dreams thought it would end up like this," he said.

"Ambition and the fun of it all just takes over."

While he was doing business from his driveway, Mr Cook said he had "a stroke of luck" when a local cafe invited traders to set up market stalls in their building over a series of weekends.

Trading gradually got busier and busier, he said, and he eventually opened a small premises in the town centre.

Ms Ellis-Bextor, 46, who has had six UK top ten singles, performed regularly during the pandemic by way of "kitchen discos" on social media.

Mr Cook said the tour of record stores was an idea he had pitched to her management, who told him they loved the idea.

Her eighth album, Perimenopop, was a record that was intended to bring joy, Ellis-Bextor said, adding it was about growing older, which she did not mind.

Customers who pre-order it from Applestump Records will be offered a ticket to meet the artist.

She will be at the store on Barker Street for a few hours on 15 September.

Applestump Records has previously hosted The Libertines frontman Pete Doherty who visited to sign records, as well as The Lottery Winners, who Mr Cook said he believed were the first artists with a Number One to play in Nantwich.

Read more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.