Lunasa visit Pocklington Arts Centre on Tuesday (26th) at 8pm in their first show in the York area since selling out the National Centre for Early Music in April 2004.

Named after an ancient Celtic festival in honour of the Irish god Lugh, the quintet formed in 1997 and have since stretched Irish acoustic music into bass-driven territory, latterly on The Kinnitty Sessions album. In the line-up are Kevin Crawford, bodhran and flute; Donogh Hennessy, guitar; Trevor Hutchinson, bass; Sean Smyth, fiddle, whistle; and Cillian Vallely, pipes and whistle. Tickets: £12, concessions £10; ring 01759 301547.

Time for ballads

THE time for Real Time at the Black Swan Folk Club, Peasholme Green, York, is 8pm on Thursday (28th). Former Bad Pennies singer Judy Dinning and ex-John Wright Band singer and guitarist Kenny Speirs play alongside young fiddler Iain Anderson and keyboard player Tom Roseburgh, specialising in traditional ballads and modern songs. Tickets: £7, concessions £6.

Niamh for York

IRISH silken singer Niamh Parsons and guitarist Graham Dunne will play the National Centre for Early Music, York, on September 23 in a 7.30pm concert promoted by the Black Swan Folk Club. Often likened to Sandy Denny and Dolores Keane, Parsons won a 2004 Indie award in the United States for Best Traditional Album for last year's release, Heart's Desire. Tickets: £10, concessions £8; ring 01904 658338.

A musical evening

EBOR Singers present Music For A Summer Evening in the Chapter House of York Minster on Sunday (24th). Meditative music inspired by the evening service of Compline and English partsongs and folk songs form the 7.30pm programme, and tickets cost £10, concessions £5, at the South Door from 6.45pm.

Updated: 08:51 Friday, July 22, 2005