IT'S rather special thing to witness the birth of new talent and to be able to say you saw that star when they were standing on the cusp of their emerging career.

So get Thursday August 16 in your diary, because it's about to happen, when some of the SoSlam young musicians and songwriters showcase their superb material at one of the best music venues in the land, Chinnerys, on Southend seafront.

And don't go making the mistake of thinking, 'young people's songwriting will probably equate to a bunch of Disney-esque warbling', because you'll be wrong.

Think glimpses of Costello, Carol King, Keith Moon, Joni Mitchell and Jonny Lang and you'll get more of an idea.

If all that wasn't exciting enough for you, they will all be supporting the special guest headliner, Southend based RnB and soul man, LJ Howard, ahead of yet another new single release.

His young supporting line up are a mix of kids who have taken part in past SoSlam Young Songwriters' Labs, which have taken place in conjunction with arts charity Metal, based in Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Park, Westcliff.

They are Caitlin King, Anna-Marie Childs, Clementine Talbott, Nate Doucette, baVard, Sam Fraser, Scarlett Taylor, Niamh O'Shea and Gen Johnson with 13-year-old drummer and percussionist Herbie Buckley-Robinson who will be accompanying a number of their songs.

The labs - which were free to attend supported by Arts Council funding - work in the way that ten young people aged 12 - 18 get to spend a week working with professionals in the Georgian house, to hone their songwriting craft. This includes working with producers, musicians and promoters, having the time and space to experiment with different ways of creating and writing new music for live performance and studio recording, receiving vocal coaching, performance technique (on stage and on video); working in a recording studio; taking part in improvisation and jam sessions; writing new material and learning alongside a peer group.

And it doesn't end there. In an ongoing quest to support the songwriters of tomorrow, SoSlam work tirelessly to continue to help bring these young creatives together, via Young Musicians open mics, radio appearances, different gigs held around the area and professional studio CDs (volume two is about to be released so watch out for that) on which all the young songwriters have their songs recorded.

Davey Hal, a singer-songwriter based in Southend, was one of the leading facilitators on the Young Songwriter's lab. He said: "The standard of songs that these young people create leaves me speechless.

"It was so inspiring to work with them all at the Young Songwriters lab and we are really looking forward to putting on the showcase at Chinnerys. "People should come along if they want to be impressed and not miss out - there are definitely some stars of tomorrow amongst this line up."

Chinnerys is in Marine Parade, Southend.

Admission is £3 on the door, or £3.30 if you prefer to get in quick and buy online, from seetickets.com.

The night starts at 6:30pm until 11pm.