FANS of Dire Straits fans are in for a treat as bass player John Illsley gets set for his first ever performances in Scotland.

John is one of the founding members of Dire Straits in 1977.

Since their debut single "Sultans of Swing" in 1978, Dire Straits became one of the most famous rock bands of their time.

Known for the finger-picking talents of Mark Knopfler, pivotal albums such as "Making Movies" and "Money For Nothing" which poked fun at music videos and the ironically won an MTV Video Music Award in 1986.

Along with fellow original band members, Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler and Pick Withers, John has toured globally picking up multiple Brit, Grammy and MTV VMA awards.

John is now getting ready to play his first solo shows in Scotland, including a gig at The Ferry in Glasgow on Sunday, October 29, The Reporter spoke to him to find out what fans can expect.

"At the moment the set looks to be about 65 per cent Dire Straits stuff." John told The Reporter. "The rest is my own stuff from the last two or three albums.

"It's been great putting this set together because we're keeping things fresh which is really important.

"I remember we used to spend what felt like weeks and weeks sorting out the running of a set because you want to make sure it flowed properly."

The new band have previously performed with some of the biggest musical stars in the world including Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Oasis and Rod Stewart.

"One of the things I love about music is that you never stop learning," says John. "The band and I have been playing together for about two years now and it's been going really well."

John said coming to Scotland will be one of the highlights of the tour.

"I'm excited because I've never played in Scotland. Even though you travel around the UK, everywhere has its own character."

Despite a long career of musical success, John has no desire to retire. "Retiring from music would be like retiring from love.

"I keep writing new songs and have a lot of stuff in the pipeline, I love it.

Dire Straits have been announced amongst the names of nominees for the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame class of 2018.

"It's funny because I had never really thought about it and then people asked me and I thought that's nice, it's good to be nominated.

"It is great that people still appreciate the music but, not to sound like I'm at the Oscars or anything, but it really is just nice to be nominated, we are all pretty pleased about it."

Tickets for John Illsley and Band at The Ferry in Glasgow are on sale now from the venue.