Take That tour hope for drummer

A drummer from Shropshire who has recorded tracks with Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams is hoping for the perfect New Year gift . . . an invitation to join Take That's sell-out summer tour.

Ash Soan, from Market Drayton, provided the backbeat to Gary and Robbie's reunion single Shame.

And the studio specialist, who has performed with some of pop music's biggest acts, has not ruled out the hope of joining the chart-topping former boy band live on stage, if he got the call.

"I would love to work with them," said Ash, 41. "It would be fantastic. You never know."

The band is undertaking a sell-out stadium tour of the UK and Europe in the summer, and its return to form has been nothing short of meteoric.

Take That's album Progress became the biggest selling album of 2010 and has dominated the Christmas charts.

Recently when Ash was recording with Gary Barlow at the composer's studio in London he was not aware that the last track they completed would turn out to be for the duet, Shame, which paved the way for Take That's subsequent return to the pop charts.

He also performed with Robbie Williams on his solo album Reality Killed the Video Star, describing the Stoke-on-Trent singer as "brilliant", "really cool", and someone who in the recording studio would invite Ash and other musicians to join him to watch football matches on the television.

* For the full story, see today's Shropshire Weekend.