Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer gig in Southport

The Bothy’s new season kicks off with a return visit by Vicki Swan and Jonny Dyer. Their consistently great performances have earned them a strong following. Once known mainly for their instrumental skills with Scottish smallpipes, accordion and Swedish nyckelharpa, they are now being accepted as impressive song arrangers and writers in their own right. Their traditional material is delivered with contemporary interpretations, while at the same time their original tunes and songs sit comfortably alongside. They have just released a new album, Red House, and they’ll doubtless be showcasing material from that on the night.

Extract from a review by Peter Cowley of their last visit to the Bothy: “Together, Swan-Dyer make a glorious sound, whether it is a combination of accordion and pipes or guitar and nyckelharpa. Their two sets comprised (mainly) songs and tunes from their excellent 2011 album Stones On The Ground. The songs range from English Traditional (Broken Token and Billy Boy) to murder ballads (Lord Randall) to Swedish songs. Of the latter, Vicki sang En Gang, a song about marriage, in Swedish, her mother's native tongue. They also sang Herr Hillebrand and Proud Lena, a chilling Swedish murder ballad which Vicki has translated into English. Epic stuff! Another of my favourites was the traditional English Train Song The Oxford and 'Ampton Railway about an ill-fated railway line which didn't even survive long enough to be closed by Dr. Beeching.”

They are appearing at the Bothy Folk Club in the Park Golf Club, Park Road West, Southport, PR9 0JS, at 8.00pm this Sunday 8 September. Real ale from Thwaites. On-line tickets.