Its most recent claim to fame is singing sensation Lewis Capaldi but now Bathgate looks like producing another musical phenomenon who goes by the exotic name of Luke La Volpe.

Although his music is quite different, he is being touted as the next Capaldi and recently made a stir with his rousing version of the Tartan Army ­classic We Have A Dream.

La Volpe, whose more prosaic real name is Gibson, is also nominated as breakthough artist in the Specsavers Scottish Music Awards on Saturday which will be broadcast online to raise money for music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins.

It means his stage name, the Italian for fox, is finally working as the lucky charm he intended when he adopted it around three years ago despite being “zero per cent Italian”.

“I’ve got a weird obsession with foxes and the Chinese say it’s a good omen when you see one – although not a white one so I won’t be going to the Arctic any time soon,” said the 24-year-old.

The stir he has created with We Have a Dream – which he says he might record for the Euros with actor John Gordon Sinclair who sang the original version – and the breakthrough nomination have been welcomed by La Volpe after a tough year.

When the lockdown hit he had just given up full time work in a warehouse to concentrate on music and was on the cusp of success, having supported ­Capaldi at the Princes Street Gardens concert last August as well as being lined up to play major festivals like TRNSMT and Belladrum in the summer.

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Before the lockdown hit, he and his band were booked to play King Tut’s where tickets sold out in less than a day.

“To be honest the lockdown at first was a big blow,” admits La Volpe, who jokes he was partly to blame.

“We had a band practice just before it was announced and I said to the boys ‘imagine what would happen if the whole world locked down’ and three days later it did. It was kind of my fault.

“At first it was hard to take but I had to adapt. I realised I needed to keep busy and not let a little pandemic hold me back.”

Instead of letting the enforced hiatus get him down, he decided to organise a series of live-streamed shows from home which quickly escalated into a “Sofathon Singalong” in aid of the Music Venue Trust.

“I knew other musicians were going to be in the same place as me, maybe ­feeling lonely and like they had lost ­everything so I thought if I got them together and made a space for them to perform it would help.”

He ended up with more than 100 acts for a 24 hour stream which garnered 500,000 views from across the world and featured names like Kyle Falconer from The View and KT Tunstall.

Impressed by his efforts, the Music Venue Trust asked him to be a patron.

“It’s wild because Paul McCartney is one as well,” said La Volpe. “It feels a bit out of place being there but it’s nice to be asked.”

Although he is only 24-years-old, La Volpe has been singing for most of his life, starting first with his grandfather who was a singer in military bands.

“I always wanted to be a singer and wanted to be Frank Sinatra when I was wee,” he said.

La Volpe started gigging when he reached his early teens, pretending to be 18 so he could play in bars although he “still looked about 12”.

Lockdown meant no gigs and no ­income as he had quit his warehouse job when he wasn’t allowed time off to play.

“I’ve just been getting through with the help of good friends and family – it’s been tough but to be nominated for that award after a year like that is pretty special for me. It’s been a hard year,” he said.

He has been recording during the lockdown which hasn’t been easy either ­without access to studios.

“I’ve been having to do everything from home so it’s been a bit of a Frankenstein job putting everything together,” said La Volpe.

Despite the difficulties he managed to release the Terribly Beautiful EP in May, garnering him a top five iTunes hit and Scottish number one single with Dead Man’s Blues, co-written with Dave ­Nelson, musical director for Paolo ­Nutini.

La Volpe now has a new single, Stand Up, to be released on Friday, which he says is partly directed at the politicians who told people in the music industry to retrain and find other jobs.

“They need to get a grip on reality,” he said.

In light of the recent vaccine progress, he is now hoping all the gigs that were postponed will be running next summer.

“It’s going to be good once this is over because I think everybody will be up for celebrating,” said La Volpe. “You’ve got to be confident about the future or you will end up greeting.”

The Specsavers Scottish Music Awards, hosted live from Glasgow’s SWG3 by Edith Bowman, will feature Biffy Clyro, Dougie MacLean, George Bowie, Graeme Park’s Hacienda Classical Orchestra, Gun, HYYTS, Lewis Capaldi, Stephanie Cheape, Texas, Wet Wet Wet, Amy ­Macdonald and kitti.

Last year’s winners and performers ­included Simple Minds, Joesef, Twin ­Atlantic and Tom Walker, raising an outstanding £70,000.

The awards raise funds for Nordoff Robbins, the UK’s largest independent music therapy charity. Due to the ­current challenges it has been estimated that the cancellation or postponement of fundraising events and activities will result in a loss of around 75% in the charity’s fundraising income for 2020.

Despite this, Nordoff Robbins is still working to support people and help with social isolation and has developed other forms of therapy through online music therapy delivery, virtual online choirs and digital resources for people to continue to make music together in their homes.

Viewers can tune in from 7pm via www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/smas2020 or Nordoff Robbin’s Facebook and YouTube.