THERE'S probably never been a better time to see Chris Wood.

Described as the Ken Loach of songwriting, the winner of no fewer than six BBC Folk Awards is both sharp and soulful with his intelligent observations of everyday life.

With Brexit still boiling on the backburner and election fever infecting everything at every turn, an evening with Chris Wood is the perfect antidote to all the spin and lies.

The former member of The Imagined Village, along with Billy Bragg and Martin Carthy, will play at the MacArts in Galashiels on Sunday, November 10.

A spokesman for the MacArts told us: "In a world of soundbites and distractions, Chris Wood is a truth seeker.

"His writing is permeated with love and wry intelligence, uplifting and challenging as he celebrates the sheer one-thing-after-anotherness of life.

"A wise and soulful craftsman, his concerts are a cliché free zone."

Chris started out as a choirboy and much of his music bears the influence of those years spent with the likes of Bach, Handel, Gibbons and Boyce.

Self-taught on guitar and violin, he has always been direct and unafraid to speak his mind.

Chris set up RUF Records in 1992 and this label continues to carry his catalogue.

He also founded The English Acoustic Collective, a movable feast of musicians, writers, photographers and choreographers who look to England’s indigenous arts as their inspiration.

His first solo album, The Lark Descending, was released in 2006 to wide acclaim.

And the glowing reviews have continued with each album release and tour - including a 50 dates across the length of the UK in 2012 with Joan Armatrading.

Roots Magazine describe Chris as, 'very political, but at the same time full of compassion, and he grows sharper and more acute with each passing album. He’s good, quite probably the very best we have today, and we need him more than ever'.

Tickets, priced at £15, are available from www.ticketsource.co.uk/macarts or 01896 756 852.

Doors open at 7.30pm.