BLACKBEARD’S Tea Party, the York ceilidh, concert, festival and busking band, are heading out on the road this autumn for 17 dates that will conclude with a home-city gig at The Duchess on November 29.

This will be their first British headline tour in a year when they have enjoyed a summer run of festivals, including a return to Sidmouth and appearances at Beverley Folk Festival and Galtres Parklands Festival at Duncombe Park last month, plus first-time visits to Broadstairs and Holmfirth.

In between all these shows, they can still be found busking on the streets of York, where they have been playing together since the summer of 2009.

Blackbeard’s Tea Party originated as a busking, function and ceilidh band, but quickly gained a reputation as a formidable live act and soon found themselves selling out venues on their home soil.

Word spread quickly, and the band began to play gigs further afield at noteworthy festivals, such as Sidmouth, Shrewsbury and the Galtres Festival at Crayke, as well as ceilidh bookings throughout 2010 and 2011.

They released their first EP, Heavens To Betsy, in 2009 and their debut album, Tomorrow We’ll Be Sober, emerged in 2011 when R2 Magazine gave it a five-star rating.

The band were recognised as one of the best live folk acts in Britain in the 2011 FATEA Awards and 2012 saw a long run of festival bookings, most notably the Cambridge and Whitby folk festivals.

In April this year, they released their second album, Whip Jamboree, whose tracks include The Valiant Turpin, Devil In The Kitchen, Polka Against The Clock, The Four Hour Shovel and the title track.

In the line-up are Stuart Giddens on melodeon and vocals; Tim Yates, bass, melodeon, trombone and sousaphone; Martin Coumbe, electric and acoustic guitars; Dave Boston, djembe, congas, bells and “shaky things”; Laura Barber, fiddle and cello; and Liam “Yom” Hardy, drums, tambourine, miniature cymbal and cajon (a six-sided, box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru).

They will be playing the Freedom Festival in Hull on Sunday and further Yorkshire dates will be at The Ship Inn, Sewerby, near Bridlington, on September 15 and the New Adelphi, Hull, on November 8.

Tickets for their 7.30pm gig at The Duchess on November 29 can be booked on 01904 641413.