When I first heard Show of Hands, it was one of those magical music moments when you discover something fresh.

Akin, maybe, to the excitement an astronomer might feel when they find a bright new star.

Show of Hands is the dream pairing of songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer who, I'm chuffed to report, play Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre tonight (Friday).

Knightley and Beer are mooted as England's most successful acoustic roots duo and landed best live act at last year's BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Their music is claimed as folk music for today succinct lyrics, beautiful melodies and fine musicianship.' My introduction to the band was hearing Be Lucky from the their 2003 album Country Life, which had the same wow' effect as Green Day's Boulevard of Broken Dreams had on my first hearing.

I must admit that folk has never been one of my strong points but Be Lucky felt so charged and commanding it could have been Bono and U2 or one of the acoustic tunes of Led Zeppelin's Plant and Page.

Deftly produced by Mick Dolan and the band, which added even more depth to their quality vocals and harmonies, it propelled Country Life, for me, into the realms of a classic and poll position on the Mullen household's play list.

As far as the history of the band goes, Steve and Phil met as teenagers while playing in different bands in Exeter, where they grew up.

They eventually teamed up and played in pubs and clubs.

After school they went their separate ways Steve to university at Coventry, where he landed a degree and teaching qualifications, and ended up in a rock band in London in his spare time.

Phil became a professional musician, playing with many different musicians and bands including, from 1984, the Albion Band.

Steve returned to live in the West Country in the mid-1980s and played a few gigs with Phil.

In 1991 the potent musical force of a Steve and Phil partnership was obvious.

As a result Phil left the Albion Band and Show of Hands was born.

Their first recording together was a live album and was so well received it gave them a leg up on to the festival circuit, touring with names such as Ralph McTell.

The Hands' debut studio album was Beat About the Bush in 1994, followed down the years by others including Lie of the Land, Dark Fields and the sublime Country Life two years ago.

Both Steve and Phil have successful music careers outside of the band.

Phil is in demand as a session musician, most notably the Rolling Stones Steel Wheels album as well as other live shows, including Feast of Fiddles with Peter Knight and Dave Mattacks.

Meanwhile, Steve was an invited guest on Mick Jagger's Goddess in the Doorway solo album in 2001 and has collaborated with another pair of gifted singer songwriters, Martyn Joseph and Tom Robinson, on Faith, Folk and Anarchy.

Taking a break from recording the new Show of Hands album with heavyweight producer Simon Emerson at the controls, Phil tells me he's really looking forward to taking to the Kendal arts centre's stage again.

"It's a great place, the Brewery. We go back many years."

He adds that the Brewery show is part of a British and German tour, with Miranda Sykes as bass player and long-time friend Mick Dolan who Phil describes as "the consummate sound engineer."

It promises to be one of the' gigs of the year.

Box office 01539-725133.