PIONEERING folk band Fairport Convention will return to the Coronation Hall on February 1 as part of their 2015 Winter Tour.

Hailed as originators of British folk-rock music, Fairport Convention remain one of the most entertaining and inventive groups on the concert circuit despite nearly fifty years as a working band.

Their annual Winter Tour has become a much-loved institution.

Fairport’s Ulverston concert will open with a performance from talented guitar and fiddle duo Kevin Dempsey and Rosie Carson.

Fairport’s own set will feature songs from their brand new album Myths and Heroes which will be released to coincide with the tour. It will be the first Fairport Convention studio album for four years.

As well as the Ulverston concert the tour will visit nearly thirty other venues, including a headlining show in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of Celtic Connections, Scotland’s premier music festival.

Every year, Fairport rings the changes in its concert repertoire thanks to an extensive back catalogue and the regular introduction of new material.

Singer and guitarist Simon Nicol co-founded Fairport in 1967's 'summer of love'. He said: “We always enjoy visiting Ulverston and played The Coronation Hall for the first time last year so we are looking forward to this return visit, is a great place to play.”

“We've enjoyed recording the new album but our first love is performing live,” he added.

"We’re really looking forward to this year's tour because we have lots of new songs to introduce to our audiences.

“But we'll be balancing the mix with plenty of long-established and well-loved favourites too."”

Fairport Convention features Simon Nicol (guitar and lead vocals), Dave Pegg (bass, mandolin and backing vocals), Chris Leslie (fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki and lead vocals), Ric Sanders (violin) and Gerry Conway (drums and percussion).

The band has been the subject of a major BBC Four television documentary and has won a coveted BBC Lifetime Achievement Award. Radio 2 listeners voted Fairport’s groundbreaking album Liege & Lief 'The Most Influential Folk Album of All Time'.

Tickets and booking information from the box office 01229 587 140 or http://www.corohall.co.uk/box-office/.