For a decade she has been combining a fresh approach to folk with a traditionalist's respect for the music.

And her engaging stage manner, now bolstered by a regular coterie of skilled musicians, was recently recognised when she was voted Best Live Act at the Radio 2 Folk Awards.

A curly-haired, rosy-cheeked Yorkshire lass in her early thirties, Kate Rusby is also the closest folk has to a new household name.

The genre claimed her as its own from the moment her rustic voice rang out on the opening bars of 1998 debut Hourglass, an album of largely medieval-dated songs, drawing comparison to the likes of June Tabor, Linda Thompson and Sandy Denny.

And she soon became a big draw at roots festivals, where her charmingly surreal song introductions led critics to rejoice in getting a stand-up and a roots gig for the price of one.

But Rusby may find herself attracting a different breed of fan on this current tour in support of sixth album The Girl Who Couldn't Fly: The standout track is a duet with Roddy Woomble of Idewild and the cover art is by Graham Coxon.

For those of you who don't listen to Radio 2, Rusby has also collaborated with Ronan Keating, and appeared on Top Of The Pops twice in May with their top 10 single All Over Again.

Not that her own sound shows any signs of changing, however. Framed by her husband and fiddler John McCusker's uncluttered production, her voice treats everything, from smutty traditionals like The Game Of All Fours to her own anguished ballad No Names, with the same pure glow.

"Some people will like it and some won't," she reasons, "and I'd never expect everybody to like my music. But anyone who tells me I need to change direction can bog off. This is the music I make, and I make it like this because I want to."

  • Starts 8pm, tickets £17.50. Call 01273 709709.