Twisted Folk presents: Stornoway and Beth Jeans Houghton - UK Tour in February 2010

Over the past four years, Twisted Folk Tours have become known for adventurous, hand picked line-ups representing the best in modern folk and twisted popular music.

It's Twisted Folk who put together this year's highly successful collaboration between UK pastoral pop group Tunng and Malawian desert bluesmen Tinariwen. Who assembled Nina Nastasia, Jeffrey Lewis and William Elliot Whitmore for an extra-special special tour. Sent Howe Gelb and the Voices Of Praise Choir off on a nine-date jaunt around the UK, packaged King Creoste with Jose Gonzalez and Vetiver (then featuring Devendra Banhart) with Micah P Hinson and Vashti Bunyan.

They've outdone themselves once again with this latest tour, showcasing two of the most talented young acts in the country - Stornoway and Beth Jeans Houghton - in what promise to be some truly unmissable shows.

Buy Music:

Stornoway on amazon.co.uk

Named after the Hebridean island but hailing from Oxford, Stornoway are a four-piece band of songsmiths, scholars, scientists and men of the earth.

The last couple of years have seen them quietly honing their art in the shadows of the dreaming spires, and earlier this year they released their first official single; the critically acclaimed "Zorbing". Their charming brand of quintessential pop, steeped in pastoral hues, won them fans across radio and press.

They were booked to play an unprecedented 4 stages at Glastonbury Festival 2009, Radio 1 asked them to headline their 'Introducing Stage' at their Big Weekend and they are one of only a few bands that both Radio 1 and 6 Music have agreed to collaborate on, granting Stornoway a shared broadcast session from the prestigious Maida Vale studios.

The band, who embarked on their first tour of the UK in mid-October to coincide with their second single "Unfaithful", also performed on Later With Jools Holland in November alongside JayZ and Foo Fighters.

"It's only our second time on the road and we are right chuffed to be following in the footsteps of such twisted folks, and to be performing alongside MegaBeth. We look forward to challenging her to a hand of poker and training her in the art of hackisack. There's nothing we enjoy more than playing live, playing cards, and playing hackisack." Brian Briggs from Stornoway

Beth Jeans Houghton is the Newcastle singer who, to paraphrase The Guardian, joins the dots between Gwen Stefani and Vashti Bunyan. Beth Jeans Houghton has been playing guitar since the age of 16. She's only 19 now. In the meantime, she’s supported Tunng and Tinariwen, hobnobbed with Vetiver, the late John Martyn, Bon Iver and Joanna Newsome and recorded a single, "Golden/Nightswimmer" with Adem and more recent an EP ‘Hot Toast Volume 1’ with Mike Lindsay from Tunng.

She was the popular hit at 2009's Green Man festival and has been hitting the road with her band, The Hooves Of Destiny.

An album is on currently being produced by Ben Hillier, the production mastermind behind Elbow's Cast Of Thousands, Doves's Some Cities and Blur's Think Tank.

"I plan to dip my toes into many genres before I quit this mortal coil," says Beth. "I don't define my music and I try not to let music define me. We are two separate entities, but we get together for a shindig once in a while - and I intend to keep it that way."

The Twisted Folk Tour runs as follows this coming February, tickets £8-10 advance.

February 2010 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Mon 8 Feb EXETER PHOENIX ARTS CENTRE - 01392 667080 / www.exeterboxoffice.com
Tue 9 Feb READING SOUTH ST - 0118 960 6060
Wed 10 Feb BRIGHTON KOMEDIA - 01273 647100 / tickets@komedia.co.uk
Thu 11 Feb LONDON RICH MIX - 020 7613 7498
Sat 13 Feb NORWICH ARTS CENTRE - 01603 660 352
Sun 14 Feb GATESHEAD THE SAGE - 0191 443 4661
Mon 15 Feb LEEDS BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB - 0113 2454650 / www.lunatickets.co.uk
Tue 16 Feb MANCHESTER BAND ON THE WALL - 08452 500 500
Wed 17 Feb BIRMINGHAM GLEE CLUB - 0871 472 0400

Beth Jeans Houghton Official Website

Stornoway MySpace