New album Verging On The Perpendicular sees Stafford's banjo powerhouse Dan Walsh take a more focused look at his formative influences - namely traditional Irish and Scottish music.

"When I first went to university that was primarily what I did, clawhammer jigs and reels was my main thing!" says Walsh, who was nominated for BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards' Musician Of The Year in 2016.

Though there are still some bluegrass touches in Verging On The Perpendicular, Walsh says he got "a kick" out of the "Scottish/ Irish stuff."

Another notable thread running through the new material is the theme of travel.

"Travel often runs through my songs," he says. "Leave This Land is about feeling sorry to have to leave New Zealand; Going To The USA is about my visa trauma the first I went; Want What You Don't Have is about the mixed feelings about travelling and gigging.

"Even Out Of Here was inspired by my experiences on the east coast of Canada, where people were so unperturbed by new people coming into the community, something which I'd like to see in more places!"

Alongside his acclaimed solo career, Walsh has collaborated with a number of artists, including fellow banjo player John Dowling, concertina legend Alistair Anderson, Indian sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan, and Canadian country singer Meaghan Blanchard. Alongside those, there have also been team-ups with Will Pound and work with Seth Lakeman and The Levellers, while Walsh also remains a member of Birmingham-based folk/ fusion act The Urban Folk Quartet. It's a varied collection of collaborators ...

"I've always played solo a lot, and then of course joined the quartet, but I have always enjoyed different collaborations,” he explains.

"With Suhail, it was an obvious one - I'm such a fan of Indian music and we met out there [in Kolkata, West Bengal] as part of a bigger collaboration project. His playing blew me away, as did his singing, and I really sensed the opportunity to explore the Indian side of things more and have a duo that genuinely produced something new and exciting.

"As for John [Dowling], I'd always liked the idea of two banjos in harmony and we were both adamant it was not to be a 'banjo battle'," he smiles.

When discussing what attracts him to seek out such fruitful partnerships, Walsh says: "I guess overall I feel that I am drawn to people whose talent I admire, but also that we can create something either better than or different to the sum of our parts."

Dan Walsh appears at Imagined Isle's Urban Folk Night, at Birmingham Town Hall, on Friday 12 May 2017. Also on the bill for the late-nighter are The Urban Folk Quartet, The Fair Rain, Rusty Shackle and The Conservatoire Folk Ensemble - who are celebrating their 20th anniversary.

Imagined Isle continues over the weekend with appearances from Rabscallion (Sat 13 May, morning); Fairport Convention and Benji Kirtpatrick (Sat 13 May, evening), and concludes with Bellowhead frontman Jon Boden (Sun 14 May, afternoon).

For more details see thsh.co.uk

By David Vincent