SELKIRK’S String Jam Club has a special guest this year to help celebrate the festive season.

BBC Radio Two’s Folk Singer of the Year 2014, Bella Hardy, has been booked to headline the Christmas party in the County Hotel on Friday, December 12.

It’s been six years since Bella found herself nominated in the Best Original Song category at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards for Three Black Feathers – the first song she ever wrote.

In 2012 she won that same award for her powerful and moving account of life as a 19th century Stornoway Herring Girl – taken from her third album Songs Lost & Stolen, which earned rave reviews, including four stars from The Guardian, while The Independent called the entirely self-composed collection 'beautifully crafted and conceived with poetic flair’. In those few short years, Bella has become one of the most creative, prolific and original voices on the flourishing UK folk scene, and this February she won the highly influential award - BBC Radio Two’s Folk Singer Of The Year.

Bella, who first visited the String Jam Club in 2009, will be joined on stage by Anna Massie (guitar & vocals) and Angus Lyon (keyboard & accordion). Allie Fox from the String Jam Club said: “The concert is part of Bella’s Christmas Tour, and we can’t think of a more fitting and festive end to our 2014 programme, marking our first wonderful year in Selkirk. We anticipate a big demand for this concert, so get your tickets soon!” Tickets, priced at £15, are now available from the County Hotel or by the credit-card booking hotline on 01750-721233.