THE Full English, like a butterfly, have come and gone all too quickly.

Launched in 2013, winners of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Best Group and Album of the Year in 2014, the purpose-built group of Seth Lakeman, Martin Simpson, Fay Hield, Nancy Kerr, Sam Sweeney, Rob Harbron and Ben Nicholls will part company in 2015.

They are playing their final tour dates this spring, their work done in turning dusty archive pages into vibrant new sounds in a ground-breaking project spearheaded by English trad folk singer Fay Hield for the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

"It's a much bigger project than the band," says Fay, who brings The Full English to Harrogate Royal Hall on Wednesday night.

"We were commissioned by the society to play for the launch of the most comprehensive searchable database of British folk songs, tunes, dances and customs in the world, which has drawn together the most important early 20th century folk collections.

"So I put a band together, trawled through the archive and we then made new music, and because this database is so phenomenal, our aim is to draw attention to this resource. We've done our introduction; we didn't want this project just to be about us; and it's now time for others to go and play."

In assembling The Full English, Fay specifically picked musicians who were different from each other. "Seth is from the pop end of folk with a Mercury Prize nomination; Martin is more American influenced with the blues in there; I'm pretty trad English folk; Nancy is a singer-songwriter who's into social comment," she says.

"But we're all steeped in that tradition of getting your instrument out and and playing a tune."

Fay took on the boss's role for practical reasons as well as artistic ones. "We could all sit down and each choose a set list, but it could take a week if we tried to do one together, which would be a disaster," she says. "It's better if I'm a bit dictatorial, as you need a vision rather than running it by committee."

As her next project beckons, Fay says: "I shall miss working with these musicians, like Seth, who I hadn't worked with before, so it will be sad, but no regrets."

Fay is a researcher in the Sheffield University music department, where she teaches ethnomusicology, as will be reflected on her new album, Old Adam, launched next January. "I'm looking at how re-telling stories helps us understand our place in the world; looking at love songs, relationship breakdowns; the monarchy; otherworldly songs with witches," she says.

"There's one song from a Yorkshire dialect book, The Hag In The Beck, which is rather dark. It's about a witch who makes a man dig his own grave...but it's got a great tune."

Meanwhile, it may last orders for The Full English, but Fay offers hope of a further opportunity. "We could do The Full Continental or maybe a tour for The Full Australian or The Full American," she says.

The Full English play Harrogate Royal Hall on Wednesday, 7.30pm. Box office: 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk