FOLK fans can experience a double bill of traditional music with a modern contemporary twist at the Brewery in its new autumn programme next week.

Next week, Friday, September 28, the Kendal arts centre plays host to Blowzabella, an exciting folk music collaboration which has featured some of the genre’s most celebrated musicians since it was formed in 1978 and their appearance at their Brewery forms part of a special nationwide tour marking their 40th anniversary.

The band comprises an array of top traditional stars, including Andy Cutting, who is one of the UK’s most decorated Melodeon players and winner of the prestigious BBC Radio 2 Folk Musician of the Year award in 2016.

Andy has performed and recorded with some of the UK’s biggest names in folk such as Kate Rusby and Martin Simpson and outside of the world of traditional music he has recorded with the likes of Sting and was recently asked to join The Who for an acoustic concert in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Blowzabella are famous for their unique 'drone' sound which is created by the wide range of instruments they play which includes saxophone, bagpipes and hurdy-gurdy

Also coming up at the Brewery is Scottish folk star Karine Polwart. Also a familiar face at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Karine is a five time winner and current holder of the Folk Singer of the Year award.

She will be at the Brewery’s Malt Room on Saturday, November 3, performing songs from her new album Laws of Motion, which will be released this autumn, with her brother Steven on guitar and Inge Thomson on accordion.

Karine has also forged a successful career in other areas of the arts world beyond music. In 2016, in association with the Royal Lyceum Theatre and Edinburgh International Festival, Karine wrote, musically directed, and performed her critically acclaimed debut work for theatre. Her piece of music Wind Resistance won the Best Music and Sound Award at the CATS (Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland) 2017 and she was also shortlisted for the best actor in the Sunday Herald Culture Awards.

For further information go online at www.breweryarts.co.uk or telephone the box office on 01539-725133.