ACCLAIMED British singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich will be the first visitor to Cumbria as part of the Get It Loud In Libraries programme in 2017.

The York-based artist performs at Kendal Library on Saturday March 11.

In August he released his second album, After The Rain, inspired by the death of his father. It follows his 2011 debut, Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm, which landed in the UK Album Chart top 40.

With comparisons drawn to Damien Rice and José González, his chilled out minimal pop sound has won him many plaudits in the national music press as one of the country's top up-and-coming artists.

The mainly-acoustic performer, previously with indie band The Nicoles, will be playing tracks from both albums when he performs his intimate gig in Kendal this spring.

Born in York in 1989 to South African and Australian parents, Leftwich lived a nomadic childhood, splitting his time between Sydney and the UK.

Inspired by Elliott Smith and Bruce Springsteen, he taught himself to play the guitar, and since going solo in his late teens, released his first EP, A Million Miles Out.

The release landed him support slots with the likes of I Am Kloot, Fionn Regan, and Lisa Mitchell, and he attracted further attention for his cover of Arcade Fire’s Rebellion on Dermot O’Leary’s BBC Radio 2 show.

Last Smoke Before the Snowstorm has gone on to sell 100,000 copies, but the loss of his father to cancer threw his career off course for a short time until he drew upon the experience to put together his new album.

Produced by Charlie Andrew, who has worked on releases by Alt-J and Money, the new album sees Leftwich continue to combine the grand with the melancholic.

Benjamin Francis Leftwich plays Kendal Library on Saturday March 11, and tickets are available via www.getitloudinlibraries.com