KATHRYN Tickell is without doubt the first lady of Northumbrian pipes, a composer, performer, educator and successful recording artist whose work is deeply rooted in the landscape and people of Northumbria.

Kathryn is out and about touring with her new band The Darkening and playing Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre tomorrow night (Friday).

A past BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winner, Kathryn is no stranger to playing headline shows in Cumbria, with appearances at Solfest, Ingleton Folk Festival and several memorable shows down the years at the Brewery, including gigs with her folk-classical ensemble The Side.

“I’ve been coming to the Brewery for years now - it’s one of my favourite places to play," says Kathryn. "I know that this new band is a bit different to my previous ones, but I think it’ll really suit the venue. I can’t wait to bring The Darkening to Kendal."

Kathryn was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s 2015 Birthday Honours List, recognising her extraordinary career which began with learning tunes from old shepherd friends and evolved to traverse genres from jazz and world music to large scale orchestral works.

Landscape, weather and the stories of the people that lived and worked in rural Northumberland were part of her childhood. She first took up at the Northumbrian smallpipes when she was nine, inspired by her family and by the music of an older generation of traditional musicians such as Willie Taylor, Will Atkinson, Joe Hutton, Richard Moscrop, Billy Pigg and Tom Hunter. Kathryn released her first album On Kielder Side, when she was 16 in 1984. The same year she was named the official piper for the Lord Mayor of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She turned professional in 1986, immediately entering a busy touring schedule throughout the UK and overseas as well as recording her second album, Borderlands, which was the first recording to include her own compositions.

In 1987 a Channel 4 television documentary, The Long Tradition, chronicled her musical development and background.

Kathryn continued touring throughout the world both solo and with The Kathryn Tickell Band, which she formed in 1990.

She has released 15 of her own albums to date and has also recorded and performed with Sting, The Chieftains, The Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Evelyn Glennie, Andy Sheppard and many others.

Brewery box office 01539-725133.