HE'S a rising music star - and Lewis Watson reckons his tunes help him work out his problems, too.

The singer-songwriter released debut album The Morning a few months ago, a collection of acoustic-centric pop tunes.

And the Oxford native believes the songs benefit from him dealing with his issues.

"I feel like the songs should be coming from me," he says.

"When I was doing open mic nights you see people almost lying when they're singing. It's like they're acting, and it was something I didn't enjoy watching.

"They could be singing a song that wasn't as good, but they would have meant every lyric.

"So everything I wrote is very personal, and that enhances the writing for me, because it's very therapeutic. I struggle to talk to people about any sort of problem, and I've got a phobia of conflict I guess, so writing helps that. But it's only therapeutic because songs mean so much to me."

Those open mic nights played a key part in Lewis building up a head of steam musically.

He plays The Garage on Sunday, and will be looking to drop in one of his usual tricks, heading into the crowd during the set for a song among the fans.

It's something he's been doing since those early shows in pubs, when the 21-year-old was trying to get folk to look up from their pints.

"When I started I was doing open mic nights in Oxford and half the time the people there had just gone to the pub. They didn't really want to listen to music and they'd speak through everybody's set," he recalls.

"It was something I adopted early on to get them to shut up, and most of the time they'd get into it."

His gigs don't generate such apathy now. He's gained a particularly fervent following among teenage girls, and his status as a teen heart-throb has taken him by surprise.

"I've never really had that female attention, ever, so it's a great thing to have it," he chuckles.

"Although they're the first ones you'll hear at my gigs, there are older couples there, there's guys there with tattoos of the lyrics, and there's all types of people at the gig, so it's not just teenagers.

"The girls are fantastic though - they're a great group of people to have on your side and I absolutely love them for their support."

The past few years have seen a surge in singer-songwriters having chart success, with the likes of Lewis and George Ezra the latest arrivals.

That meant that Lewis was instantly compared to chart-topping troubadour Ed Sheeran when he first arrived, even though the pair's music is quite different, with Lewis using far less loops or hip-hop style vocals.

He still takes the comparisons as a compliment, though.

"Ed Sheeran's fantastic, and is one of the reasons that this type of acoustic music has got so big, because he's bridged the gap to the mainstream with some catchy songs, and then some songs that are very personal," he says.

"His new album X goes between those very quickly. But it's a lazy comparison with me and him. I mean, we both play guitar and have hair but if you played one of his songs and one of mine to 1000 people then they'd all realise the difference."

While Lewis is seeing his fame grow, he's a modest character, and admits that, unlike many musicians, he's never held massive ambitions to be a star.

"I've accepted that I'm not ambitious and have stumbled into all of these things," he adds.

"I know it's something I shouldn't promote because ambition can be a good thing, but I don't really have that in me and I've learned to live with that."

l Lewis Watson, The Garage Sunday, £11, 7pm