A FOLK singer songwriter is setting off on his latest tour on a mission, to save the traditional English pub.

Rayne's own Jay McAllister, better known as Beans On Toast, will be hitting boozers up and down the country this summer in the hope of spreading some much needed cheer to a hard hit industry as part of his Down the Pub tour.

Jay said: “It all spurred from a song on the new record called down the pub which is a no holds barred drinking song.

“It is a difficult time for pubs and more and more bad news comes out for them all the time. There has recently been the rise in business rates.

“I do not know how much help I can do but it is worth bringing to people’s attention.

“Hopefully it is a strong enough part of British life that they will survive. They are not really going anywhere in my head.”

For one of the dates on the month long tour, he will be popping to his old local, The Swan in Rayne, for what will be a homecoming party.

“When we were putting the tour together I said straight away I wanted to do the Swan.

“We got in touch with the owners and they were up for it too.

“I am really excited about it. My band used to rehearse in a caravan in the garden of the pub.

“The first time I ever had a pint both legally and illegally was in The Swan and Rayne park right opposite was an integral part of my growing up as well.

“I still have a lot of love for Essex and I visit Braintree a lot because most of my family still live there.

“The Swan can only hold about 80 people and the show is completely free, so hopefully it will be full.”

The acoustic troubadour has hit the big time and is now a regular feature at Glastonbury and festivals all over the world.

But Jay has very special memories of shows in pubs, which were essential to his musical education.

“The army and navy pub in Chelmsford was the first ever gig I went to, it was a band called Planet Empathy.

“I remember years later we got to play there with them.

“Without these pub shows there would not be the grassroots of music.

“To be honest everything now is a highlight for me.

“It still blows me away how far you can get on a bunch of silly songs.

“Travelling the world and singing for people is amazing.”

The show at The Swan, for which space is limited, takes place on May 19.

Visit www.beansontoastmusic.com.