STEVE Harley is calling it "the world tour of Yorkshire", on account of playing five shows in God's Own Country on autumn travels divided between his acoustic trio and his full-scale Cockney Rebel line-up.

Two of them will be A Closer Look acoustic nights with Barry Wickens, on violin and guitar, and James Lascelles, on piano and percussion, at Pocklington Arts Centre on Wednesday and Thursday; a third will be a rearranged Cockney Rebel night at York Barbican on December 13. Hull City Hall on November 4 and Wakefield Warehouse on November 7 will be Rebellious (CAP CORRECT) nights too, should you have a diary to hand.

Pocklington comes first, a prospect that makes Steve smile. "We just love Pocklington," he says. "It's a great little place. Richard Hawley, who's so droll, once said, 'Pocklington, the home of rock'n'roll', when he played here, and it's true.

"My wife and I have just got back from ten days in Montenegro and we've been to Croatia too, but I come back home and I'm excited about playing Pocklington. Why is that?"

Steve began playing acoustic shows around 15 years ago. "I remember my agent, Paul Charles at Asgard, said that a promoter in Suffolk wanted to put me on in a three-man band with the music stripped back to the bone," he says.

"I thought, 'that's exciting', as I hadn't done it since my folk days, so I went out and did the shows with my guitarist Robbie Gladwell and I found I had a natural bent for interacting with people in these shows. Once you have the first two rows on your side, you're on to a good thing."

Steve now performs A Closer Look with the aforementioned Wickens and Lascelles and he loves the flexibility and informality of the format.

"You can tell an anecdote or two and the truth is, I haven't got a clue what will happen at each show," he says. "I deliberately go out on stage not knowing what will happen; I'm not a stand-up or a deliverer of punchlines, so it has to be natural," he says.

As for the songs, from Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) to Judy Teen, "when you sing them in an acoustic setting, it make you think about the lyrics all over again, because it focuses the writer's mind".

Steve Harley, A Closer Look - An Acoustic Set, Pocklington Arts Centre, Wednesday and Thursday, 8pm; box office, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk

Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel,York Barbican, December 13, 7.30pm; rearranged from September 11; 0844 854 2757 or yorkbarbican.co.uk