IN celebration of his 25th anniversary as a professional musician, folk stalwart John McCusker will tour the UK.

He will play the Brewery Arts Centre on May 6, performing tracks from his forthcoming album 'Hello, Goodbye', written while on world tour with Mark Knopfler.

'Hello, Goodbye' is John's first solo album in 13 years, and will be released on his newly formed record label Under One Sky Records.

The album combines traditional folk music with a more contemporary style, and sees John performing with a hand-picked band of established musicians.

These include drummer James Mackintosh of The Blue Nile and James and Grammy-award-winning US bluegrass musician Tim O'brien.

They recorded in John's recently-finished new studio, which is based in a bothy dating back to 1779, which neighbours his Scottish Borders home. It was designed by record producer and studio designer Calum Malcolm to match John's music in combining the traditional and the new.

As a live and studio guest, John has shared stages with Paul Weller, Teenage Fanclub, Graham Coxon and Eddi Reader.

Since 2008, he has been a member of Mark Knopfler's band, playing arenas around the world.