Of all America's musical heritage, country is among the genres with the least global reach, but a touch of twang has helped make a young Belgian DJ a surprise chart-topper in Europe.

Lost Frequencies, a 22-year-old who just a year ago was finishing his degree in economics, has opened his first tour of the United States and hopes his popularity will carry over across the Atlantic.

The DJ, whose real name is Felix Safran De Laet, began mixing when he started at university and for the first time had his own laptop, finding electronic beats for classic tracks and posting them online.