A LAKELAND-BORN singer has finally made her way back to her roots and is gunning for a chance to take to make her mark in the land of misty wet rain.

A member of the Bristol-based band Bud, Jo Philips has been singing and performing as part of a six-musician line-up for nearly a decade.

Bud have been no strangers to the pubs of the South Lakeland having travelled up to perform a couple of gigs over the last year.

But the group, who have been recording together since the mid 90s, have reached a period of transition and Jo, a former Lakes School pupil, has recently moved back to the region.

Although they haven't permanently parted company, the band members are exploring different avenues with their lead singer

testing the water as a solo performer.

"We have been thinking about other ways in which we can make things go forward.

We have been sending out a new demo to see if anyone bites with a financial deal but if not it is hard to see how we can more forward.

People start to pull in different directions without that sort of professionalism."

After a few appearances at pubs and folk clubs in the south the singer is now hoping to get stuck into the local circuit in the North starting with a gig at Dickie Doodle's, Kendal, next Thursday.

"I always did a lot of writing and I am a bit more 'folky' than the rest of the band - solo performing was quite a natural step for me.

I'm really looking forward to it."