SHOW of Hands will perform a sold-out Christmas special in Bridport next Friday.

The band, who have unequivocally become one of the leading forces in British folk, will play Bridport Electric Palace on Friday, December 21 at 8pm. They will be joined by Miranda Sykes.

Steve Knightley and Phil Beer are respectively recognised as one of the UK’s best singer songwriters and one of its finest multi instrumentalists. Without frills or fanfares they have carved a unique niche built on a carefully constructed cottage industry and become one of the most in-demand bands on the circuit.

An alchemist couldn’t have come up with a more potent, magical mix than that of Phil Beer, who can, as The Scotsman observed, “play nearly every stringed instrument known to man” and the inspired Steve Knightley, described by broadcaster Mike Harding as “one of England’s greatest singer songwriters”.

One of Devon’s greatest success stories started with the guys growing up on opposite sides of the River Exe, though Steve was born in Southampton and Phil hailed from Cornwall. Playing in different bands their paths eventually crossed and they joined forces to play the Exeter pub and club circuit before taking off in different directions.

After gaining a degree at Coventry University, Steve started teaching in London and playing the capital’s rock scene while Phil pursued the life of a pro musician, playing in Arizona Smoke Review and the revered Albion Band. But when Steve returned to the West Country in the mid 80s they started gigging again and in 1991 Show of Hands was formed. Unusually their first album was a live one. “Live 92” was recorded at Dorset’s Bull Hotel in Bridport and its excellent reviews helped them break into the festival circuit and tour with Ralph McTell.

After working with exiled Chilean musicians in the band Alianza – which saw them learning the South American cuatro and soaking up new rhythms – Steve wrote such memorable songs as Santiago, Armadas and Columbus (Didn’t Find America).

Following their first studio album Beat About the Bush Show of Hands released Lie of the Land in 1995 which ‘Q’ Magazine declared “startlingly good”, making it their folk album of the year.

But despite an escalating fan base they still couldn’t command London gigs. So they thought they’d create a modest one of their own – at the Royal Albert Hall! Hiring the hall to the amusement of the media and the cynicism of sceptics they had the last laugh, with a sold out show.

A particularly productive time followed with another studio album Cold Frontier (2001) and The Path (2003), an instrumental coastal odyssey commissioned to mark the 25th anniversary of the South West Coast Path. In 2003 they released Country Life, with its stand out rock-style title track that went on to be used as a soundtrack by the Commission for Rural Communities for two films, launched in Westminster.

In 2004, after numerous nominations, Show of Hands struck gold at the BBC Folk Awards, winning the coveted Best Live Act title – the only category voted for by the public.

In 2006 they were quirkily voted Greatest Devonians in a poll beating historic figures like Sir Francis Drake and modern day music icons Chris Martin, Muse and Joss Stone while they were later voted the West Country’s favourite musicians in an ITV series and invited to join the West Country Hall of Fame.

Two of the most popular ambassadors for acoustic music, their music loses nothing in translation and they have taken it all over the world, from Australia to India, Germany to Canada, the Netherlands to Hong Kong plus key festival appearances including Glastonbury, WOMAD, Cambridge and Celtic Connections.

In 2008 they made their WOMAD debut. 2009 saw them returning to Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival for the third time while Phil took time out to fulfil a lifelong dream of crewing in the Tall Ships race and Steve made solo appearances at festivals including Glastonbury.

In February 2010 their fame spread further when they were interviewed and performed live on BBC-1’s Breakfast programme and in April Steve and his songwriting was the subject of a half hour Radio 4 programme, Open Country.

2011 saw Show of Hands in great shape with a February appearance on BBC1’s flagship political programme, The Andrew Marr Show, singing Arrogance Ignorance and Greed in front of guests including Foreign Minister William Hague.

2012 was a milestone year as Knightley and Beer marked the 20 years of their incredible partnership with a celebratory fourth “Big Gig” at the Royal Albert Hall and released their 14th studio album, Wake the Union.

In 2014 they became the first ever folk act to play at the new Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at London’s Shakespeare’s Globe. Marking the centenary of WW1 they made a significant double album “Centenary – Words and Music of the Great War” with husband and wife actors Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton and appeared on BBC TV’s Andrew Marr Show on Remembrance Day.

2015 has seen them celebrate the 17th year of their own signature summer festival at Dorset’s Abbotsbury Sub Tropical Garden.

A new album The Long Way Home sees them returning to their musical roots in a very “English” recording with fresh arrangements of traditional English numbers and five new Steve Knightley original songs including the topical and chilling Mesopotamia. Guest musicians include Knightley’s own 13 year-old son Jack Knightley on cajon.

After such a journey it is clear that the Show of Hands story is a remarkable one and they are now, as BBC Radio 2’s Mark Radcliffe says, “at the top of their game”.