FIVE award-winning folk musicians will play together for the first time in Dorset at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis.

Members of the Gigspanner Big Band have played in the county before individually but next week will be their first Dorset performance as a collaborative.

As a trio, Gigspanner, formed by multi-award winning fiddle player Peter Knight (ex-Steeleye Span), has built a massive reputation for dismantling traditional music and song and "reshaping it in fascinating ways" fRoots

BBC Folk Award winners (Best Duo) Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin are described by The Guardian as being "subtle, bravely original...a combination of virtuosity, intensity and charisma."

Their appearances together as the Gigspanner Big Band are a rare but highly sought after affair, thanks to performances of dazzling musicianship and arresting chemistry.

"Unhindered by the limits of technical ability" (Spiral Earth), they take self-penned material along with music rooted in the British Isles and beyond, and with the flick of a bow, a finely chosen chord or slip of a beat, produce richly atmospheric arrangements layered within a wealth of subliminal musical influences “with notes seemingly plucked from the stars and rhythms from the equator”.

The line-up released their debut album to coincide with their appearance at Fairport's Cropredy Convention, and both the album and their performance received outstanding reviews.

Coincidentally, both parties released albums late last year which featured in Mojo Magazine's Top Ten Folk Albums list (Gigspanner's The Wife of Urban Law and Phil and Hannah's Edgelarks). Again, critics have been united in their recognition of the progressive, questing spirit that guides the work of the two sets of artists.

This summer, the Gigspanner Big Band performed at Sidmouth, Shrewsbury, Broadstairs and FolkEast Folk Festivals, and very much proved their worth, playing in headline slots.

*Gigspanner Big Band, Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis, Wednesday, November 21, 7.30pm. Call the box office for tickets.