A UK Bluegrass band who play traditional American songs with a twist of British wit on the side will perform in a Dorset village.

Expect tales of whisky, railroads and heartbreak as Old Baby Mackerel head to Portesham. 

They will perform a gig with Artsreach, the counties touring arts charity.

Their music uses the rhythmic sounds of banjo, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and double bass to get knees bouncing and elbows swinging to the virtuosic sound of blistering solos and tasteful harmonies.

Be prepared to be transported back in time to the early 20th century and across the Atlantic to North America where songs dramatised the small-town fascination with locomotion, religion and the veneration of whisky and bootleg liquor.

In the last four years Old Baby Mackerel have featured regularly on BBC radio including 6 Music with Cerys Matthews, have played Glastonbury Festival twice, sold out venues across the UK, played headline slots at Purbeck and Priddy folk festivals, the Northern Irish, Cornish, Welsh, East Anglian and Swiss Bluegrass festivals, at venues and festivals all over the UK and Ireland as well as Belgium, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal and Thailand.

Catch Old Baby Mackerel live at Portesham Village Hall on Friday, January 12. Call 01305 871117 for tickets. 

See the website www.artsreach.co.uk for more information.