Often overshadowed by the more commercially successful cities of Liverpool, Manchester and London, Tyneside nevertheless remains a genuine hotbed of musical talent. From the early echo-laden innovation of Hank Marvin to Maximo Park's intelligent 21st Century art-rock, Tyneside has produced plenty of groundbreaking pop music, all of it laden with a typically Northern sense of creative integrity.

With bands like Detroit Social Club and Little Comets set to release their hotly anticipated debut albums this year and local indie-folk singer-songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton already grapping her fair share of broadsheet column inches (and the critical acclaim that inevitably follows), North East music looks destined for some long-awaited national recognition.

From Mansfield Holiday, Mammal Club and Brilliant Mind in Newcastle, to Frankie & The Heartstrings in Sunderland, to The Chapman Family on Teesside, the North East is at the cutting edge of guitar-driven pop music in 2010. There's long been a myth that the region has lagged behind other parts of England in terms of mainstream musical success because London-based A&R men are reluctant to travel this far north. Well, with the wealth of talent that's up here now, they'll have to start clocking up the miles in those well-polished Mercedes.