A NUMBER of Cumbrian towns feature on the autumn tour for award-winning singer-songwriter Katie Doherty.

The Northumberland native is hitting the road with her band The Navigators for a string of dates that includes shows in Arnside, Water Yeat, Murton, Egremont and Warwick-on-Eden.

More than a decade after her debut solo release, Bridges, presented her as a new folk voice to be reckoned with, Doherty’s latest project sees her teaming up with fellow North East-based musicians, Dave Gray on melodeon and Shona Mooney on fiddle.

Together, they are Katie Doherty and the Navigators, and while the finishing touches are being put to the band’s debut album, And Then, the trio - who all count themselves as graduates of Newcastle University’s acclaimed folk degree course - have been busy booking a 12-date village hall tour. Kicking off next weekend, the tour will visit intimate venues across the north.

Doherty says: “I’m really looking forward to getting back out on the road - especially to be doing some rural touring. I think the intimacy of the village hall setting really suits the music we play.

“I spend so much time in a room on my own writing, it’s quite rare I get to see people’s reactions to the songs and I love playing together with Shona and Dave, their energy is electric and its magical when it all lands.”

Doherty has spent much of the past 11 years composing and performing music for a string of theatrical productions, including work with the RSC and Northern Stage.

On this tour, audiences will be treated to new songs from the band's debut album and some from Bridges too.

She says, “They are all my songs but, aside from being phenomenal instrumentalists, Dave and Shona bring tunes and chord patterns to the arrangements I would never think of myself.”

The band appears at Arnside Educational Institute on Sunday September 23, Water Yeat Village Hall on Saturday 29, Murton Village Institute on Saturday October 6, Florence Arts Centre, in Egremont, on Sunday 7, and Warwick-on-Eden Memorial Hall on Saturday 13. Tickets are available from the venues.