DORSET folk duo, Ninebarrow, launch their highly anticipated third album, The Waters and the Wild, this weekend at Lighthouse, Poole.

Jon Whitley and Jay LaBouchardiere were nominated for the coveted Horizon award (Best Emerging Act) at the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

In just a few years, the pair had carved themselves a distinctive niche on the folk roots scene for their, “outstanding harmonies, delicate instrumentation and engaging songs”, and were in the position to relinquish their jobs as a teacher and GP in favour of a full-time music career.

Named after Nine Barrow Down in the Purbeck hills, their first release, While the Blackthorn Burns, was voted FATEA Magazine’s Best Debut Album of 2014 while their last album, Releasing the Leaves in 2016 saw a volley of media acclaim across national print and broadcast media and Best Duo nominations in the FATEA and Folking.com Awards.

Jon says: “We’ve had such a lot of fun recording this. I guess you could call this our first studio album really. Our previous two have been self-produced and self-released.

“We made the conscious decision quite early on with The Waters and the Wild, that we wanted people to be able to hear the progression from the previous two in terms of the production quality, but at the same time, we also wanted to retain the honesty and organic quality that the other records had as well.”

The album launch gig will be held at Lighthouse, Poole, on Saturday at 8pm. There will also be support from fellow Dorset performer and award-winning guitarist, Will McNicol.

To book, call 01202 280000 or visit lighthousepoole.co.uk