COLWALL Village Hall will be ringing to the sound of two very different styles on Saturday, February 10.

Songwriter Michael Chapman and Colwall's own trio, The Big Hum, will be coming together for a varied evening of musical performance.

Michael Chapman first became known on the Cornish folk circuit in 1967 and his 1970 album, Fully Qualified Survivor, was DJ John Peel's favourite album of the year.

Over the years, he has released 24 albums and CDs and published a novel, Firewater Dreams.

Chapman says he has played at some pretty exotic locations in his time, such as Burnham-on-Sea, but he has never reached the heady status of Colwall Village Hall.

"Village halls are beginning to become the trendy places to play now. There was a time when you avoided them at all costs because all you could expect was a draughty hall and warm beer," he said.

He first became interested in music through his grandma's radio ("I think it ran on coal") which got all the European stations.

"In those days they were mainly run by the US army and played a lot of stuff from America and I fell in love with the whole lot," he said.

"I left home very early and my guitar basically bought me my education. I played wherever anyone would have me."

Despite hating to classify his music, he said a lot of people refer to him as a folk singer.

"Normally, I just tour on my own with my guitar and all the songs tell stories of my life - I'm conceited enough to presume people would be interested and you have to have an ego in this business!"

The Big Hum, a mixture of cappella, dance and theatre by Jim Howden, Adrian Mealing and Will Tooby, will be the first act up on stage. They take their cue from hits by Joe Jackson, Iggy Pop and the Beatles and, in between argue about countryside issues, paternity leave and the secret sources of Ambridge.

Tickets are £7 from Wil Leaper on 01684 540831.