FOLK musicians Lizzie Nunnery and Vidar Norheim will perform at Norden Farm’s Studio in Maidenhead this Sunday at 7.30pm. Lizzie and Vidar met in Liverpool ten years ago and have performed across the UK.

They are back with a new album, Songs of Drink and Revolution, with the added dynamic of two band members, Dean Ravera and Martin Heslop. Lizzie, who is also a playwright, spoke to Freetime.

What can people expect from your Norden Farm show?

We often perform as a duo but we started with our last album with a double bass player. We also got a vibraphone in the studio too and a keyboard and two guitars with four of us. We swap instruments around. We recorded the latest EP almost all live over a couple of days at a studio in Liverpool. We are taking that on the road.

Have you had a good response to the new sound?

We really have. We did a big album launched in Liverpool in the Lantern Theatre and we managed to sell it out.

Why did you decide to add in two band members?

Having been playing acoustic music and quite simple arrangements for years Vidar and I felt it was a new challenge to bring in other instruments. It is a lot of fun playing with a bigger sound- it is fun for the audience and fun for us.

How did you and Vidar meet?

We met about ten years ago at random at a party. A year later we started working together. I was a solo artist at the time and he started working with me as a co-writer. He would sometimes, but not always, perform with me. We enjoyed it so much we decided to do it all the time.

Were you a solo folk artist?

Yes, it was the same kind of music. Perhaps I have got a bit more political over the years with my lyrics but I have always been in the alternative folk bracket.

How did you discover folk music?

I started off playing acoustic nights not knowing what genre I was working in. I played the songs that came to me. Then I started to move outside that and play gigs. It took me a couple of years to work out my audience was folk clubs and art centres and folk festivals.

What do you like about folk music?

I love that you can create new material that is connected to this really fascinating tradition. I love the traditional songs that have been passed on. The reason they have been passed on is because they are such great stories.

What else are you working on?

A radio play for Radio 4 called Take Me To Hope Street, which is a ghost story set in Liverpool. Vidar and I are working on a play called Narvik. It is set in the Second World War in the Arctic and in Norway and is about a sailor in the navy. Hopefully that be released in autumn 2015.

Go to www.nunnerynorheim.com for more information about Lizzie and Vidar. Tickets are £12 from www.nordenfarm.org or call 01628 788997.