FOLLOWING many years appearing as the straight-faced guitar-picking member of The New Rope String Band, Vera van Heeringen will be a familiar name and face to many across Dorset.

Now, leaving the comedy to one side, Vera returns to Dorset this spring with her own trio, performing a combination of traditional Appalachian styles with folk and contemporary song writing.

She will be performing at Cecil Memorial Hall, Cranborne, on Friday, February 26 and Portesham Village Hall on Saturday February 27.

Vera van Heeringen's debut album, Standing Tall, was released in 2012 and marked a change of direction after nearly five years of touring as part of the brilliantly comedic New Rope String Band.

Heavily influenced by American country music, Vera combines these flavours beautifully with her contemporary songwriting.

A highly skilled instrumentalist, she has long been recognised for her graceful and restrained guitar playing, bringing the guitar a life in a way that's entirely her own.

Vera has just released her second album, Proper Brew, which features a list of musicians who share Vera's musical aesthetic and is receiving rave reviews and lots of radio play.

For this tour Vera is joined by bass player Andy Seward (Kate Rusby Band), an in demand producer of acoustic music and winner of a Sony Award for his work on The Radio Ballads for BBC Radio 2 in 2007, guitarist Dave Luke and Mandolin player Dave Proctor, complimenting beautifully the expressive guitar of van Heeringen.

The bold, bittersweet and melancholic style is rapidly gaining Vera new fans far and wide, marking a change of direction from her work with The New Rope String Band and immediately establishing her as a force to be reckoned with – now is the time to go and see her play live.

Both performances are at 7.30pm. Call 01725 517883 for tickets to the Cranborne performance or 01305 871925 for tickets to the Portesham performance.