FOLK pianist Belinda O’Hooley completes a hat-trick of York gigs on Wednesday, when she returns to the National Centre for Early Music.

“Many, many years ago, I played there with Rachel Unthank and The Winterset; I’m thinking it was probably in 2006 and it’s such a lovely venue,” says Belinda.

“Then O’Hooley & Tidow played the Black Swan Folk Club on The Fragile tour in 2012, which sold out, so Roland [club promoter Roland Walls] invited us to come back when we were bringing out a new album and it was time for us to play a bigger venue.”

The West Yorkshire duo of Belinda O’Hooley and singer Heidi Tidow (pronounced tee-dough) take up that invitation on Wednesday on a tour to mark last month’s release of their third album, The Hum.

Not only is the NCEM bigger than the Black Swan but Belinda has another reason for wanting to play there.

“The NCEM brings in a gorgeous Steinway piano rather than me having to play my electronic one, which I can leave at home. Mine is state of the art but it’s not the same as the real thing,” she says.

She loves the NCEM’s celebrated acoustics too.

“When you’re playing music that’s been described as folk music with classical influences and a hint of punk, and some of our songs are a cappella, having a good acoustic will lend itself to that music,” says Belinda.

The Hum has met with effusive reviews for its ten songs standing tall in the face of deprivation, dictatorship, austerity and suppression.

“Somebody has just said to us that they feel this album is the music of our times,” says Belinda. “We felt we had to write about what was happening in our country and I suppose it’s our most political album so far.

“It comes from own experiences, from the community where we live in Huddersfield and from the wider community, where people want to make their own decisions.”

This year, the Occupy movement has taken O’Hooley & Tidow under its wing, says Belinda. “In a way they would see our music as being the music that talks about the things they want to address. It’s really good to have their seal of approval.”

Belinda moved from Leeds to Huddersfield 20 years ago and like the Huddersfield-born Heidi, she now champions the town. “When you come to Huddersfield and search beneath the surface, there’s a lot going on,” she says.

“One of our songs, Summat’s Brewin’, is about the real ale revolution here and in Huddersfield there’s an undercurrent of artisan and baker co-operatives popping up and people taking the chance to do things from the ground up.

“Living in the Colne Valley, there’s definitely a feeling of community strength and spirit and we feel very proud that we’re able to sing about that.”

Belinda senses that this groundswell of change is on the rise. “It’s only just started,” she says. “The economic downturn has massively affected the centre of Huddersfield, where the only shops doing well are the charity ones and the cash converters.

“But if you look a bit further out, where the rates are cheaper, there are these small independent shops and micro-breweries popping up. Hopefully it will bring an alternative culture to Huddersfield.”

She can detect a desire to be optimistic. “Music is very important in that,” says Belinda. “We’ve been filming a video for Summat’s Brewin’ – it was terrible having to do so much ‘research’ in our local pub! – and there really is the optimism of people coming together to make music and brew beer. Two great things that are our favourite passions.”

Having cut her folk teeth working with the Unthanks, Belinda has blossomed in her partnership with Heidi, bringing her songwriting to the fore, while she continues to enjoy performing in the Nic Jones Trio too.

“Nic saw me play at the NCEM for the first time when he still lived in York, and a year later when he came out of retirement and started singing again, it was brilliant to be invited to work with him,” she says.

“He’s so inspiring. His advice is to be original and to play from the heart. ‘Do it your way,’ he says.”

The Nic Jones Trio will be taking a sabbatical this year before starting up again in 2015. Meanwhile, O’Hooley & Tidow will be doing it their way, their hum growing ever louder.

• O’Hooley & Tidow, supported by Sarah Dean, National Centre for Early Music, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm, presented in association with Black Swan Folk Club. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk

• The Hum was released on No Masters in February.