BEN Earle, one half of the British chart-topping country sensations The Shires, can't wait to take centre stage at this year's Yorfest festival in York on September 23.

Tickets are selling fast for the late-summer Knavesmire event, now in its third year, with an all-star cast of live music heavyweights to be topped by Earle and Crissie Rhodes's band, Britain's highest-achieving country music act of all time.

On the back of their two ground-breaking albums, 2015's Brave and 2016's My Universe, The Shires will roll into York next month to headline a festival expected to welcome thousands fans to the city.

Ahead of the eagerly anticipated open-air event, 29-year-old Earle says: "Our shows are a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. We’ve seen everything from smiles to tears from that stage, but we’d like to think that the crowd leaves on as much of a high as we do. Country is cool as well, and we hopefully convert a lot of people."

Earle and Rhodes played York Barbican last December, having first impressed Yorkshire audiences at Pocklington Arts Centre and the Platform Festival at The Old Station, Pocklington.

"We had an amazing show at the Barbican so we’re really excited to come back," says Earle. "The line-up looks great as well. Hopefully, we’ll get to the festival early so we can really soak up the atmosphere. We’ve heard really great things about Yorfest."

The hard-working Shires have been as busy as ever. "This tour has been absolutely amazing. We played at some great venues, but finishing up at the London Palladium had to be the highlight. It was a really special moment for us to be up on that historic stage," says Earle.

York Press:

"We have some great songs already for album three," says The Shires' Ben Earle

"We're having a great time playing festivals almost every weekend and we can't wait to head to York. It’s a really fun way to spend the summer. Writing for our next album has also begun, which is really exciting."

Earle and Rhodes will be looking to build still more on the momentum of Brave, the first ever Top Ten album by a British country act, and My Universe, the fastest-selling British country album in chart history on release last October.

"There was a slight bit of pressure after the success of our first album, Brave, so to have such a positive reaction was incredible," says Earle. "We have some great songs already for album three, so hopefully it shouldn't be too long until that's ready to be released. We're spending a lot of time in Nashville too and have a lot of exciting things going on there too. Watch this space."

In previous summers, Yorfest has delivered such acts as The Lightning Seeds, The Pigeon Detectives, Slow Readers Club and The Sunshine Underground and this year The Shires and Mercury Prize-winning Badly Drawn Boy are the first names to be announced; more will follow shortly.

As well as the live music bill of 30 acts across three stages on Bustardthorpe Field on Knavesmire, the family day-out will have a diverse selection of food and drink for sale on site, along with traditional festival fare. Festival-goers can expect Yorkshire real ales, Champagne, Pimm's and Prosecco bars, candyfloss, doughnuts, a children's play zone, face painting and vintage fairground rides.

Tickets cost £30 per adult, £20 for under 16s, free entry for accompanied under-fives; family tickets for two adults and two under-16s are £80. Bookings can be made at skiddle.co.uk, ticketweb.com or seetickets.com.

Gates will open at noon; the show is expected to finish at around 10.30pm. Look out for "yet more line-up surprises on the way for Yorfest", promises festival programmer Bryan Stubbs.