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One of the funkiest bands in Britain will be performing for race fans again at the Bahrain International Circuit after a storming performance at an earlier racing event secured them a return ticket.
Bijoumiyo, a five-man act with a charismatic front man called Myles Sanko, has won rave reviews but admit their bookings in the kingdom came directly from a YouTube video from a spectator's mobile phone.
So successful were they in encouraging sports fans to step up and dance at the GP2 Asia Series event to their soulful sounds that organisers of this year's big race have followed the same route to ensure the sell-out crowds are fully entertained throughout the three-day sporting spectacular with other promising live entertainers.
BIC chief operating officer Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa said: "After we saw their success, we hit YouTube again and looked for similar bands and the great thing is it's a break for them too."
YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips and has been used by musicians to build up a fan-base and break into the competitive world of music-making once controlled by the giant recording companies.
Bijoumiyo is made up of vocalist and percussion player Myles, drummer Raymond Groovier, guitarist Andy Nash, bass guitarist D.M. Jones and keyboard player Mr Nice Peterson.
"For Bijoumiyo, MySpace and Facebook have been massive for us as our primary interface with our fans and the potential to reach a global audience," Myles explained. "Our bookings in Bahrain came directly from a YouTube video from a spectator's mobile phone.
"We are going to be staying an extra two days in Bahrain after the F1 show to have a talk with a new friend of ours about an exciting music collaboration so hopefully we will get the chance to look around the country then."
The singer is also hoping to bump into his old pal and Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton - the McLaren driver whose team is partly owned by the kingdom.
He explained: "I knew Lewis Hamilton back when he studied in Cambridge and we are still good friends so I will be looking forward to catching up with him on the circuit and it will be great to see first hand how well he does this season."
"There's going to be a lot of passionate F1 fans with lots of positive energy and that will be a great boost for us! The response was really positive when we performed at the GP2 in January this year so we are all looking forward to it this time round," Andy added.
At the beginning of this year Bijoumiyo - 2008 Indy Music Awards finalists in the best Funk/Soul/Jazz act category - signed a management contract and are working hard on an album which will be released shortly.
l Catch Bijoumiyo live and a host of other entertainers during the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix weekend on April 24-26 at the BIC.
