ONE of folk music's finest duos will be heading to Cumbria on their latest nationwide tour.

BBC Radio Two Folk Award winners Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin appear live at The Kirkgate, in Cockermouth, on Friday March 10.

Rated among Britain's leading slide guitarists and harmonica players, Phillip met Devon-based fiddle player Hannah whilst a member of alt-folk outfit The Roots.

When the band ended, they continued as a duo, playing all over the country, from Glastonbury festival to busking sessions on the seafront at Sidmouth Folk Week.

It was during one of these busking stints that they were spotted in an encounter with Steve Knightley from Show Of Hands, that now goes down in folk legend. Recognising the potential of Henry and Martin's partnership, Knightley invited them to accompany Show Of Hands on a nationwide tour, culminating with a show at the Royal Albert Hall at Easter 2012.

The pair's first album, Singing The Bones, was released in 2011 to warm praise, and constant touring followed, including an Arts Council funded tour of south west arts centres in autumn 2012. The duo went on to win Best Folk Act at the 2012 South West Music Awards.

Their second studio album, Mynd, was released to great acclaim in September 2013, appearing in end of year best-ofs for The Guardian, The Telegraph, fRoots Critics Poll, Mark Radcliffe's Radio Two Top Ten, and Songlines.

Their triumph in the Best Duo category at the Radio Two Folk Awards in 2014 has led to their busiest two years to date. They recorded a concert, Live In Calstock, to make a record of their sound during these initial years; the resulting album once again went down a storm with the critics. They were honoured with the opening slot at Cambridge Folk Festival's 50th anniversary, toured with folk legend Seth Lakeman, and played in South Africa, France, Norway, Japan, The Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.

Last year saw the pair further their international reach, with an extensive tour of Australia and a high-profile appearance at Canada's Vancouver Island Music Festival in the summer.

And this spring has seen Henry and Martin hitting the road with a brand new show. One of the most exciting live acts on the circuit, spanning a range from tearjerking ballads to Phil's legendary party-starting beatbox harmonica, the pair effortlessly bring together genres as diverse as Indian classical music, the blues, and the traditional musics of the British Isles.

With a new project and album, Edgelarks, planned for the autumn, expect sneak previews as well as old favourites.

The show at The Kirkgate on Friday March 10 gets under way at 8pm, and tickets are available from the venue's box office.