A new gallery has opened its doors in Harborne promising exhibitions that showcase some of the Midlands' finest artistic talent.

Havill & Travis is a joint venture between two well-known faces from the Midlands' music scene and two of the first exhibitions taking place have a distinct musical flavour.

The partners in the Lonsdale Road venture, which will exhibit and sell fine art and photography, are Gerv Havill and Dave Travis.

Mr Havill runs Birmingham-based fine art printer Mission Print but is better-known to many as the man behind the Moseley Folk Festival, Mostly Jazz Funk & Soul Festival and the Lunar Festival.

Mr Travis is himself an accomplished music photographer, whose work was recently exhibited in Birmingham's Ikon Gallery.

He is also a seasoned music promoter, who ran the famed Click Club at Burberries in Broad Street in the eighties – a venue which saw performances from the likes of Blur, Suede, the Pixies, Radiohead, Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine. More recently he ran the popular Blast Off club night at Wolverhampton Civic Hall.

Mr Travis said: "We have some exciting exhibitions lined up into next year.

"There's no real theme or continuity to our choices just as long as we both like the work. People should expect some surprises for 2015."

The gallery opened with an exhibition of paintings by violinist Erica Nockalls and it is set to be followed by a photographic exhibition by Birmingham International Jazz Festival organiser Jim Simpson.

Ms Nockalls, a Birmingham Conservatoire trained violinist, is best known for her work with The Wonder Stuff, The Proclaimers and as the front woman of her self-titled art rock band.

Following the release of her 2013 debut solo album Imminent Room she felt inspired to visualise her album tracks in oils and uses her art to adorn the stage when she performs.

In advance of the launch of her second album EN2, Ms Nockalls prepared a collection of oil paintings directly inspired by her new music for her first official art exhibition.

The 'EN:Art' exhibition at Havill & Travis saw patrons invited to bring their own headphones in order to plug into listening stations while simultaneously viewing artwork corresponding to each previously unheard album track.

It continues until November 1 and will be followed by a Jim Simpson Photography Retrospective, which opens to the public on November 13 and will feature photographs of some of the world's biggest music stars from the sixties.

Mr Travis said: "In the early sixties, Jim divided his time between playing trumpet with his band The Locomotive and taking photographs of rock and roll and blues musicians.

"By the end of the decade he had stopped playing, formed Big Bear Records, was managing Black Sabbath and photography had taken a back seat.

"His photography work includes The Rolling Stones, Little Richard, Black Sabbath, Nina Simone, Marianne Faithfull and Ginger Baker to name a few."