CATSKILL Mountain songwriter Simone Felice returns to York tonight with his latest album in his hand and Anna Mitchell as his latest partner in performance.

He and Irish musician Anna will be performing songs in acoustic arrangements from Strangers, along with pieces from Simone’s solo back catalogue and his days in The Felice Brothers and The Duke And The King. Simone will be on guitar and vocals, Anna on harmonium, piano, and vocal harmonies.

“Anna’s from Ireland, from County Cork, and she’s a great songwriter who’s supported me at shows, and we loved the way our voices worked together,” he says. “I’m really enjoying working with her.

“She’s come over to New York to work with me on some new material for the next album. I’m starting to record some ideas for the new record but I’m going to take time, to dig deep, to bring out the magic.”

For now, the focus remains on Strangers, an album that he cherishes.

“Honestly, when I make a record it’s a continuation of the poetry I’ve been making all my life, but Strangers was a special project that I’m really proud of. We’ll be playing maybe six songs from a ten-song record, though in this tour show there’ll be a lot of The Duke And The King and Felice Brothers songs too,” says Simone.

“I’ll be doing The Duke And The Kings’ Union Street, which I haven’t done for a couple of years, so it’s nice to wrap my heart around that again, and we’re doing The Devil Is Real, from a Felice Brothers bootleg album from 2007-2008.”

While on the subject of The Felice Brothers – the family band for whom he used to drum – will he and his brothers reunite at some point?

“Well, even in the summer, we did a couple of shows together, and we all live close to each other, so it’s a lot easier to get together,” says Simone. “There’s nothing I like more than to get together with my brothers and they’ll be appearing on my new record.”

Away from the demands of touring or the studio, Simone revels in the mountain life at Catskill in the American state of New York. “I go walking in the mountains; I go cliff jumping in the creeks; we have big waterfalls. So when I’m not working, I’m in nature,” says Simone. “That’s a major rejuvenator.”

Rejuvenation can wait. In the meantime, Simone is playing York for a third year in a row. “There’s no rest for the wicked,” he says. Indeed not, especially when he is also involved in a project in Woodstock, working with unsigned musicians from California, Scotland, Sweden and Bristol. “I’ve got artists booked all winter.”

Please Please You presents Simone Felice with Anna Mitchell, supported by Dan Whitehouse, The Basement, City Screen, York, tonight at 8pm. Box office: 0871 902 5726 or at picturehouses.co.uk