A BRITISH folk music band will be taking to The Haymarket stage in Basingstoke next month for an evening of exciting entertainment.

The Gigspanner Big Band are a force in British folk music and residents are invited to see for themselves when they are at The Haymarket on Friday, May 13.

The band begun as a trio with Steeleye Span fiddle player Peter Knight being joined by percussionist Sacha Trochet and guitarist Roger Flack.

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Since then the line-up has been expanded to form The Gigspanner Big Band, with acclaimed multi-instrumental duo Edgelarks (Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin - BBC Folk Awards Best Duo), and Bellowhead co-founder and melodeon player extraordinaire John Spiers joining the fray.

While Peter Knight, as part of Steeleye Span’s classic 1970s line-up, helped invent a brand of folk rock that is still influential today, John Spiers has had an equally profound impact on the landscape of traditional music over the last two decades.

The folk group are characterised by riotous inventiveness, technically gifted individual playing and subtle collaborative interaction.

This coming together of several of the biggest names on the folk-roots scene combines a deep knowledge of roots traditions with a ceaselessly boundary pushing approach.

Taking self-penned material along with music rooted in the British Isles and beyond, with the flick of a bow, a finely chosen chord or slip of a beat, they produce richly atmospheric arrangements layered within a wealth of subliminal musical influences.

Their high-energy, virtuosic performances appeal equally to traditionalists and to those looking for something more experimental, and they have garnered praise from publications as varied as Roots, The Telegraph and The Wire, where they were described as ‘melodically folk-rooted yet open and innovative beyond the constraints of genre’.

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As collaborations go, it doesn’t get much more mouth-watering than this and it is promised to provide an evening of musical fun for all age groups to come along and enjoy.

Tickets are currenrly priced at £26, which includes a £4 booking fee.

For more information and to buy your tickets now contact the Anvil Arts box office on 01256 844244 or visit anvilarts.org.uk.

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