Folk Now, Komedia's sampler platter of folk music from around the world, served up the home-made stylings of Martin Simpson.

As one of the world's pre-eminent acoustic guitar-players, an accomplished songwriter and BBC Folk Awards 2004 Musician Of The Year to boot, Simpson is one of the bigger hitters to join the festival.

Originally from Scunthorpe, Simpson has travelled and taught extensively around Europe and the US, enabling him to throw flavours of English, Celtic, French and American music into the mix.

With nimble fingers flying with unerring precision and a voice with plenty of character, which was ideal for interpreting traditional English and blues, this was quite a treat for the audience packing Komedia's cabaret bar.

He demonstrated his playing and singing prowess superbly on the blues standard Going To Brownsville, reclaiming it from Led Zep in the process, and the beautiful A Closer Walk With Thee.

Simpson also switched adroitly between playing styles. One minute, he was Ry Cooder, the next Robbie Robertson, the next Martin Carthy.

His latest album, Righteousness And Humidity, is a collection of new and traditional songs inspired by the Deep South, where he once made his home, and two of the strongest songs -out of a terrific set - were taken from this CD.

His John Hardy was definitive and The Devil's Partiality, a cover of a song by the wonderfully-named Gallivan Burwell (whom Simpson met while walking his dog in New Orleans), was beautifully evocative of life in the Deep South and its stupefying humidity.

All this was delivered with astonishing clarity in his playing and a gentle wit in his raconteuring.