Primary School Assembly Bangers go festive

It's not often a performer will fire up the crowds on stage at Glastonbury and delight TV audiences on Songs of Praise, but James B Partridge has done just that.

The Dorset-born creator of Primary School Assembly Bangers became an online sensation with his school hymn sets, which have earned him a following up and down the country.

"The love of music had to come from the assembly hall," he says. "We had fantastic tunes that we sang together and were taught these by memory, so that's why to this day they've been stuck in my head."

The 34-year-old's new The Big Christmas Assembly tour features retro pop songs and Christmas carols.

James, who is from Poole, first sang the songs in his current setlists in assembles at Stanley Green in Oakdale.

He also sang for his local church choir and as part of the Bournemouth Symphony Youth Chorus, and his parents Lyndy and Mark Partridge tell the BBC they have always been incredibly proud.

"He was very, very good - you could hear him from the back pew," Mark recalls. "He was an excellent singer."

"He was fairly quiet as a child but he's very outgoing and quite extrovert on stage," Lyndy adds.

As well as performing to the masses, James is a music teacher.

During lockdown he posted his "top 10 primary school bangers" online, and since then his following and success have continued to grow.

Mark says: "When he first started talking about doing assembly songs I don't think there was anybody including ourselves who thought 'oh yeah, I'm sure he'll be performing at the Pavilion soon'."

But the Pavilion in Bournemouth was one of the locations on the singer's Winter tour, with audiences out of their seats, joining in with the actions.

"It's been absolutely incredible to see people's reaction," James says.

"It can be quite emotional singing some of these tunes that you might not have heard for years, reminiscing on times gone by, reaching a hand out into the past and bringing it into the present."

Mark says: "A lot of people cry out for some sense of community that no longer exists.

"That lost sense of communal singing that the school assembly of your childhood days brought out is represented in James' show. People come out feeling revitalised."

It's an experience Lyndy is glad her son gets to share with thousands of people.

"We're immensely proud of James," she says. "He's done so well."

For James, building bonds and friendships is what matters at this time of year.

"Christmas is all about connection, it's all about community, it's all about tradition," he suggests.

"All of those things are linked with music."