One of the country’s most critically acclaimed new folk duos, Hannah Martin and Philip Henry play for a large and animated audience, appearing at Lichfield Guildhall.

With an ever-growing fan-base, and recent wins of various awards including 2014 Best Duo at the BBC Folk Awards this year has seen the performer’s stars in the ascendant. With an innovative sound blending tradition with new arrangements and sounds that include tight harmony vocals, technically accomplished fiddle, viola and banjo playing, dobro that's as flawless as it is musical, and beat-box harmonica that has to be seen and heard to be believed, the pair pack a lot into the evening.

The music comes mostly from their two most recent albums in Mynd and Live in Calstock, and range from well thought-out arrangements of traditional music to their own quality songs and instrumentals. In the first half the tone is set withPhilip Henry beatbox harmonica tour-de-force of 'Underground Railway' which sets some fine harmonica playing against beat box sounds and beats, using pedals but creating the sound and momentum in real time; the slow ballad 'Silbury Hill' is a haunting exercise in restraint and musicianship, whilst the traditional Death and the Lady is a stand-out track for Hannah Martin’s vocals and fiddle.

New sonic ground is covered in the second half, with much of their own music, which ranged from 'Ms Wilmot’s Ghost', a story about a keen gardener who still carried on her life’s work from the other side, to 'Painter', a song about the losses felt in the war. They also feature new music in the hard hitting song 'Stones'. The energy level lifts even further, with The Nailmaker’s Strike' and 'The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe' both becoming fearsome displays of musicianship and technique.

An encore of James Taylor’s famed lullaby You Can Close Your Eyes shows the duo at their peak, melodic yet innovative, with mass appeal that will also please the purists, showing that the faith that the record industry and the media have placed in this is being well rewarded.  

Appropriately for Halloween the Philadelphia based singer-songwriter Lizanne Knott casts a musical spell over her audience as she finishes her British tour at Lichfield Guilldhall.

Her latest musical project Hey Harley is a collaboration with the equally talented Bill Reveles, and their blended voices and guitar styles cover a lot of ground, from new age ambient to gospel, blues, and folk.

The duo play a set that's largely made up of their own quality songs, but they also find time for a number of covers. Although not household names, the duo have seen their songs feature in a number of top rating television programmes and films such as ‘True Blood’ and ‘Dawson’s Creek’. There's no-room within their compositions for solos or improvisation, but they took an almost painterly approach to their work, each note is carefully weighted to allow for the most impact, and their songs are largely of a narrative nature, ranging from tracks about parenthood to the environment.

Lizanne Knott’s, pure, clear pitched voice has made her a favourite with the Old Grey Whistle Test's Bob Harris, and the songs work on the radio, but in a room with the acoustic of The Guildhall, the songs have extra depth and lustre.

Starting with the hopeful, gospel tinged ‘Wonderful Day’ it's soon clear that we're in safe hands, and a life spent in concert halls has prepared the duo well. The economic situation is touched upon with ‘Die In This Town’ whilst the bluesy ‘Could Have Been My Man’ would have sounded at home on any mainstream blues album. Bill Reveles' first solo spot consists of the sad ballad ‘That’s the Way She Loves’whilst comedy song ‘Jesus or Elvis’ has its impact somewhat softened with the juxtaposition of a bed of minor chords though 1^st set closer ‘Carry You Home’, a song written for Lizanne Knott’s daughter, upholds a far deeper resonance.

Much of the same ground is covered in the second half, although at points to a far deeper level.

‘For Somebody’ and ‘Love Has Passed Me By’ were songs about the human condition and love lost, whilst Lizanne Knott gives full rein to the bluesy timbre of her voice during the traditional ‘Big Road’. The set closes with a full bodied reading of ‘Forgive Us’ a ballad that speaks of religion and redemption. Fittingly, a reading of Dylan’s ‘Knockin on Heaven’s Door’ is the encore, but a slightly different arrangement and shared vocal duties lifts it above the ordinary.