AWARD-WINNING trio Lau will be bringing their unique brand of contemporary folk music to Builth Wells.

The trio will be playing the Wyeside Arts Centre on Thursday, November 16 as part of an extensive UK tour that takes in more than 30 venues.

Comprising three of the UK’s finest traditional musicians‚ Kris Drever (vocals, guitar), Martin Green (accordion, wurlitzer, keys, electronics) and Aidan O’Rourke (fiddle), Lau garnered four nominations at the 2017 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards: Kris was nominated for Folk Singer of the Year and Best Original Track, while Martin was nominated for Best Album and Best Original Track.

The band has also appeared on BBC2 TV’s Later - With Jools Holland programme.

The tour showcases songs from the band’s 2017 album ‘Decade (The Best of 2007-2017)’, which is compiled from songs suggested by Lau’s fans and put together with the help of Tom Rose (of Reveal Records & Management).

The trio actually have a back story that goes back farther than the ‘Decade’ name of their new album and tour suggests.

In 1998 Aidan, while stopping off at the Green family safe house on a tour of England, discovered Martin’s shared love of roaming harmonies and kinked time signatures and melodies.

Separately, Kris and Martin, both fans of Ian Carr and Karen Tweed, were intrigued by what might happen if they synced the Martin’s accordion playing with Kris’ guitar playing.

The two played together occasionally as duos before, eventually, Kris tossed a coin in Kirkwall to decide if they should share a base in Edinburgh or Glasgow.

Sheer fate, therefore, decided they would choose the Scottish capital.

Martin moved north, Aidan moved east, and all three gravitated to sessions at Whistlebinkies and the Tron.

They were still nameless but their first gig as a trio happened in 2005 at the Bongo Club’s None of the Above.

That night something clicked.

They then practised‚ a whole year without performing any gigs, meeting at Martin’s house in Pathhead or around Aidan’s kitchen table in deepest Leith.

They improvised and they wrote more tunes than they could ever use.

A precedent was set for new material, experimental sounds and expanded forms.

The first sign of Lau on record was a 2006 Cambridge Folk Festival promotional mini CD. Tom Rose was now on board, bringing in new branding for their Celtic Connections release, and the queue for Lau’s debut performance at the Classic Grand that year stretched around the block.

The rest as they say is history.