Sunderland's The Lake Poets announces new record and tour

The folk act, aka Martin Longstaff from East Herrington, will release a new EP on December 29, consisting of live recordings made at Sage Gateshead during his sold-out December 2016 show.

Featuring the string section of the Young Musicians Programme, a Sage backed initiative, the EP includes a version of the single Your Face, which has racked up more than seven million plays on Spotify, plus four more songs from his 2015 debut album including Vane Tempest, an ode to the demise of the mining industry in his beloved home region.

Marty said: “The Sage is one of my favourite venues in the UK and the place that every young musician based in the North East dreams of playing, let alone selling out. It was such a special night and I’m so happy to have had the evening recorded. The opportunity to perform with the YMP Strings was too good an offer to miss, and with their help me and my band were able to get these songs to sound how they appeared in my head when I first composed them.”

The singer / songwriter, who is in the midst of recording his new album, has also announced a string of tour dates for April and May next year, including a date at Newcastle’s Wylam Brewery on April 30.

He added: “Album two is coming very, very soon. I can’t wait to get back out and about playing shows around the UK debuting new material, as well as seeing old friends and meeting new faces along the way.”

The Lake Poets self-titled debut album was produced by fellow Mackem musician Dave Stewart in the famed Blackbird Studios in Nashville.