SINGER-SONGWRITER Ange Hardy will be making a welcome return to the Silver Street Sessions stage in Wiveliscombe this weekend.

Ange was nominated at the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and celebrated by ‘The Telegraph’ as ‘one of Britain’s top folk musicians’. She has grabbed the attention of the traditional folk music world by writing new material and embracing modern technologies while maintaining a traditional feel.

Alongside a long list of other accolades Ange was awarded FATEA Magazine’s Female Vocalist of the Year in 2013, Album of the Year in 2014, The Tradition Award in 2015 and Duo of the Year with Lukas Drinkwater in 2016.

Her rapid rise in the folk world began when her 2013 debut folk album Bare Foot Folk was played on BBC Radio 2 and gained the attention of veteran folk broadcaster Mike Harding. Her 2014 album The Lament of The Black Sheep subsequently received five stars from ‘The Telegraph’. That led to Arts Council England funding her 2015 album Esteesee – an album of music based on the life and work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Ange’s 2016 album Findings with Lukas Drinkwater was launched during a live session on the BBC Radio 2 Folk Show, and was toured nationally at venues including The Sage, Gateshead, and The Regal Theatre, Minehead. Findings hit Number 1 in the Amazon Folk Music charts, received five-star reviews from R2 Magazine and found itself in the fRoots Critics Poll end of year list.

The concert on Saturday (February 24) is at the usual venue, Cotleigh Brewery in Ford Road, at 8pm (doors open 7.30pm). Tickets priced £12/£10 concessions are available from Wiveliscombe Post Office – phone 01984 623308 or email [email protected] – or visit www.silverstreetsessions.co.uk