HE'S the gob-smacking teenage guitar player with the self-made talent.

Supporters say he could be as important to folk music as Django Reindhardt was to gypsy-jazz.

Now 17-year-old finger-picking impresario Darren Hodge from Taunton, is one of 130 exceptional young instrumentalists from across the musical spectrum to have benefited from Awards for Young Musicians.

Each outstanding young award-winner receives financial help from £200 to £2000, along with tailored support.

And 2013 is proving to be quite a year for Darren in other ways too.

This summer the South West Music School and Bridgwater College student has been signed up to wow the crowds at five festivals, including Watchet and Pill.

Playing with internationally-acclaimed Irish folk songstress Cara Dillon at Stogumber festival on August 30 will be a real highlight.

And Darren is steadily winning the awe and support of other industry names.

Acoustic Magazine's former editor Mark Tucker was set on producing Darren's second album, The Road to Nashville, for free, after hearing him perform.

Now, father and son are trying to build up the £800 needed to get his second album mastered and put on sale.

Dad Douglas Hodge recalled the moment he knew Darren was something special. "At the age of 12 he asked me for a guitar. He'd been listening to some really old music I'd bought him by Chet Atkins.

"After six weeks of hearing it I'd had that much I said 'Can you turn it off!'

"He said: 'What do you mean? It's me'. "We then made the first demo by the time he was 14." You can listen to Darren Hodge's fingerpicking guitar-playing by visiting his YouTube channel.