THE Crescent, York, sees in November with a couple of cracking gigs tomorrow (November 1) and on Sunday, first Scottish duo Aidan Moffat & R M Hubbert, then the anything but plain John Smith.

Droll Arab Strap frontman Moffat and El Hombre Trajeado singer and guitarist Hubbert will be showcasing their Here Lies The Body album. "The album title has a dual meaning: sex and death,” says Moffat. "It can be read as romantic surrender, but of course it’s also a phrase you’ll find on a tombstone."

While Moffat’s mournful Falkirk voice carries the narrative in rich grumbles, hushed whispers and revealing spoken word, the music weaves beautiful, spidery guitar work, haunting piano lines, lush strings, delicate percussion, fizzing 808 beats, synth pop, samba, and shards of jazz.

Folk guitarist, singer and songwriter John Smith has a new album to promote on a 34-date tour: Hummingbird, released through his own Commoner Records label on October 5.

Born in Essex and raised in Devon, Smith has made five albums in 11 years, while also serving as a guitar sideman for Joan Baez, David Gray, Lisa Hannigan and Lianne La Havas.

York Press:

John Smith on Hummingbird: "My most restrained recordings so far," he says

Smith, whose acoustic and electric guitar playing uses a transatlantic blend of fingerstyle and slide techniques, recorded Hummingbird in March at Sam Lakeman's Somerset studio, where he had made his Headlong album two years ago. This time he committed six of his favourite folk songs to tape, alongside one cover version and three Smith originals, the title track, Boudica and Axe Mountain (Revisited).

"I invited several good friends to join me in this process: Cara Dillon, John McCusker and Ben Nicholls," he says."Each a giant in their own right, they offered subtle and deeply nuanced performances to what I feel are my most restrained recordings so far."

Smith will be supported by 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Musician of the Year Rachel Newton, the Scottish singer and harpist and founding member of The Furrow Collective and The Shee, whose new album, West, is the result of a solo recording trip to her family's native Wester Ross in the Scottish Highlands.

Both 7.30pm concerts are promoted by York gig organisers Please Please You. Tickets are available in person from The Crescent, Earworm Records in York and Jumbo Records in Leeds or at pleasepleaseyou.com.

Charles Hutchinson