A YOUNG drummer is beating his way to the top after success in a national competition.

Charlie Vasilou, 13, who attends Yarm School, near Stockton, has reached the final ten of the Young Drummer of the Year competition.

Last year, Charlie, who lives in Darlington, reached the final 40 of the competition and was determined to improve.

He will perform a twominute drum solo which he has composed himself, at the final on February 6, in Leamington Spa.

It will be followed by his own drumming interpretation of a lead guitar and bass guitar backing track, provided by the judges.

He said: “I am nervous and excited, but most of all I am just very happy to have got this far in the competition. I really want to make my family proud.”

Charlie, who also plays other percussion instruments and the bass guitar, is no stranger to success.

He won the Drummer’s Alliance Beat 2009 competition at the age of 12, despite being the youngest competitor in the final.

He has been drumming since the age of nine and is taught by Carl Thomson at the Northern School of Contemporary Music.

While drumming started as a hobby, Charlie now hopes to turn professional.