Gifted young singer songwriter Gren Bartley is to give an exclusive preview performance of his stand-out new solo album at Frome’s first ever Folk Festival (Sunday, February 19).

Somerset festivalgoers will be the first to hear songs from the exciting new solo artist’s album Songs to Scythe Back the Overgrown, weeks ahead of its official release on March 1.

The Manchester-based artist carved himself a name in a duo with fiddler Tom Kitching, a former BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards nominee. The twosome, who met at Loughborough University, proved popular, quickly gaining a following and a foothold on the festival and folk club circuit. But Gren is now striking out solo, finally tapping into his rich and prolific song writing reserves and effortlessly bridging the Atlantic divide with an acoustic spectrum ranging from English folk to moody American blues.

Songs to Scythe Back the Overgrown is a 13-track album on the Fellside label - all Bartley originals bar his perfectly-judged take on Joni Mitchell’s The Last Time I Saw Richard.  A showcase for his skilled, sensitive and sometimes quirky song writing, and here and there capturing his wry, self-deprecating humour, the genre-hopping album demonstrates Bartley’s strong, maturing voice alongside his acclaimed acoustic finger-picking guitar and banjo playing with some Ebow and harmonica thrown in for good measure.

A polished recording it features clear, driving rhythms and poetic lyrics shaping a myriad musical landscape of people and places. Guest musicians include the in-demand Katriona Gilmore (fiddle and backing vocals) and Nottingham’s celebrated Andy Whittle on keyboards and harmonica.

Says Gren: “The album is inspired by old English tunes, early American blues ballads and verses that thrive somewhere in between.” It ranges from the catchy, free-flowing late night trawl through a Midlands town Kings and Queens to the dark, unflinching and gutsy blues showstopper My Time is Nearly Over, a song inspired by the prison blues songs of the Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman Farm.

Gren says the engaging recording has an unusual and inexplicable provenance - the result of waking up in the middle of a night when he was unwell and feverish with a vivid dream – and a fully-formed album (!) - swimming around his head. The dream featured fellow folk musicians Kate Rusby, John McCusker and Tom Kitching and he will no doubt explain all during his performance at Frome!

• Three tracks from Songs to Scythe Back the Overgrown can be found on Gren’s website at www.grenbartley.com. Some of the top names in British folk will appear at the West Country’s new winter festival on Saturday, February 18 and Sunday, February 19.

Popular entertainment centre The Cheese and Grain will stage the main action, with numerous other town venues and pubs hosting live music sessions.“Folk legend” Steve Knightley has been revealed as the Sunday headliner. The Show of Hands’ inspired frontman, hailed as one of England’s finest songwriters, will next year celebrate 20 years of his phenomenal partnership with multi instrumental wizard Phil Beer when Show of Hands play the Royal Albert Hall for an incredible fourth time.

Saturday’s headliners are the melodeon, fiddle and singing phenomenon John Spiers and Jon Boden , the musicians who spawned the mighty superband Bellowhead and twice winners of Best Duo at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. The duo will stage a rare ceilidh in addition to their main stage appearance.

Multi award-winning singer songwriter Chris Wood is also confirmed along with a host of 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards nominees including dazzling duo Tim Edey and Brendan Power , feted fiddle singer Jackie Oates and one of the fastest-rising folk acts of 2011 - North West trio Pilgrims’ Way. 

Other confirmed acts include Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman, Jamie Smith’s Mabon, Bella Hardy, Miranda Sykes and Rex Preston, Jim Causley and Jim Moray, Jane Taylor, Eddie Martin, Belshazzar’s Feast, Jenna and Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin.

Tickets have been frozen at Early Bird prices right through to the event with weekend tickets priced £58 (£48 concessions) and day tickets at £32, available from HERE