MUSICIAN Pete Williams, who grew up in Rowley Regis, is to hit the road with The Proclaimers - and will be travelling rather more than their famous 500 miles.

Pete and his band will support the famous Scottish duo, Charlie and Craig Reid - one of whose hits was "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" - on a 29-gig autumn tour of the UK.

But local fans will get a final chance to see Pete and his band, before they go on the road, when they appear at Halesowen Athletic and Cycling Club on October 10.

Pete, aged 55, who went to Rowley Hall Primary School and Rowley Grammar School, released his first album, "See", in 2012.

Charlie and Craig Reid called it the "stand out album of 2012" and invited him to support them on three gigs.

Now the twins have booked Pete and his band - Laurence Saywood on bass, drummer Mark Morgan and guitarist and backing vocalist Andy Wellings - for their big tour of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Dublin from October 16 to December 15.

They will be at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham on November 8.

Pete's latest album, "Roughnecks and Roustabouts", features Old Hill comedienne Josie Lawrence speaking Black Country on a track called "Valda", about a dog that came into his family and ran away, causing him to go searching for the animal on his bike.

Mick Talbot, the former keyboard player with Style Council, plays on five of the album's songs.

Pete said the invitation to join The Proclaimers was "a great opportunity and very generous of them".

"I don't have a record company or management - I haven't got the money or machinery of EMI or Sony but they've given me the chance to do this," he added.

His musical inspirations include Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder and the Reid twins have said of him: "What a fantastic songwriter and singer the man is.

"Pete is a storyteller in his songs and writes as a mature man who has lived and suffered and loved.

"He has the passion of a young writer and the philosophical overview of a wise man."

Pete has previously used PledgeMusic, a "crowdfunding" website, to raise money towards making his albums and is now hoping fans will chip in to help pay for the costs of going on tour.

Tickets for the cycling club gig are available at http://petewilliamsmusic.com/live/ and his PledgeMusic campaign is available at http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/petewilliamstour?utm_campaign=project12482&utm_medium=project_badge.