TAKING to the stage at the Bournemouth Folk Club on Sunday evening are Jez Lowe and Steve Tilston, two of Britain's most respected writers of folk and acoustic songs. They are both highly accomplished performers in their own right and are coming together to provide an evening of music, banter and great entertainment.

For such a fine and revered songwriter, Steve Tilston remains surprisingly unknown outside the folk world. Yet for 40 years he has weaved his magic and consistently impressed his peers.

The quietly unassuming singer, songwriter and guitarist was the subject of the Hollywood film, Danny Collins, that was released earlier this year. Steve Tilston was played by Al Pacino and it told the true story of how Steve received a letter from John Lennon 34 years after it was sent.

The ex-Beatle penned the message to Steve after reading an interview with him in ZigZag music magazine, in which he said that getting rich could compromise his artistic integrity.

Lennon told him that “being rich doesn't change your experience in the way you think” and that “emotions - relationships - are the same as anybody's. I know, I've been rich and poor, so has Yoko (rich-poor-rich) so whadya think of that.”

Steve received the letter in 2005 from a US collector, but what happened to it after it was sent is still unknown. Performing with Steve at the Bournemouth Folk Club will be Jez Lowe who has been nominated for two BBC folk awards this year, Folk Singer of the Year and Best Song for the Pitmen Poets, Jez has built an enviable reputation as a songwriter and performer in the world of acoustic music, and as a recognised musical ambassador for his native North East England, with almost 20 albums and countless live performances around the world over the last 30 years. Among those who have recorded their own versions of Lowe's songs, are Fairport Convention, The Unthanks, The Dubliners, The Tannahill Weavers, Cherish The Ladies, Gordon Bok, Tom McConville, The McCalmans, The Black Brothers, Liam Clancy, Bob Fox and literally hundreds of others.

Songs like Back in Durham Gaol, The Bergen, Greek Lightning and These Coal Town Days have generated scores of cover versions around the globe, and are now classics of their kind. Jez Lowe and Steve Tilston play the Bournemouth Folk Club on Sunday night at the Sugar and Spce bar in Boscombe.

The following week sees Naomi Bedford and Paul Simmonds headline on November 29. A BBC Folk Award songwriter nominee and one of The Men They Couldn't Hang, Paul is joined by duo partner Naomi for what promises to be a special evening.

: For more information please see bournemouthfolkclub.co.uk.