TEN years together and still going strong.

Chris While and Julie Matthews simply love making music together.

Their enjoyment was plain to see last night as they rocked amidst the medieval masonry of St Margaret's Church, off Walmgate,York, in a concert promoted by the Black Swan Folk Club.

While (guitar/banjo) and Matthews (guitar/keyboards/mandolin) are both prolific and gifted songwriters.

Their lyrics are intelligent and literate, their music is full of melody, while their performance is always passionate - thanks to their powerful vocals.

The gifted duo, famous for their impeccable close harmonies, beefed up their sound with the barefooted Martin Brunsden on double bass and Pat Illingworth on drums/percussion.

Chris's son, Danny While, keeping it in the family, played lead guitar.

The musicians played several tracks from the duo's latest album, Perfect Mistake.

One of the highlights was the atmospheric Now That Love Has Gone, which featured Matthews on accordion. While described the Portuguese lament as a rumba with a tango bridge. The band dealt with this heady musical cocktail with aplomb.

Brunsden swapped his double bass for a saw, which he bowed to create an eerie sound for the album's melancholic title track, Perfect Mistake. What could have been a mere gimmick worked beautifully. It was music at the cutting edge.

To celebrate ten years on the road, the duo performed old favourites from their impressive back catalogue.

While, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, left school at 15 to work in a textile mill. Out of this experience came songs like The Factory Floor and Piecework - the up-tempo rhythms of which hinted at the speed of the mill's machinery.

Heartbreak is a potent muse that provides ripe fruits for songwriters to harvest. While's Edge Of The Night was one of several on the familiar theme of relationships unravelling.

But it was not all heartache and misery. While paid tribute to her mother by writing an affectionate song celebrating her sparkling eyes.

Matthews articulated the excitement of returning home with an uplifting song called Westward, which graces their latest album.

The While And Matthews Band left the crowd screaming for more and the inevitable encore featured a composition so new that the ink was barely dry.

It was a rousing chorus song about people all around the world waiting for love. It served as a powerful antidote for these troubled times when the news is dominated by terrorism.

Updated: 09:24 Tuesday, March 23, 2004