SOME ‘gutsy folk rock’ is about to be served up by Blackbeard’s Tea Party.

The band, which gives traditional songs and tunes a heavy rock edge complete with monster riffs and driving rhythms, will perform at Otley Courthouse on Friday, November 1.

The group describes its sound as ‘gutsy folk rock dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century....built for late nights and big stages’.

Blackbeard’s Tea Party is celebrating a decade in music and the Otley show is part of its Ten YAAR Anniversary Tour.

Believing that a live show should be a spectacle for the eyes as well as the ears, their performances feature outlandish outfits, costume changes, DIY props, outrageous stage antics and chaotic choreography.

Their recurring goal is to deliver an ‘engaging, high-octane show that inevitably leaves audiences cheering for more’. The band’s most recent release, a five-track EP entitled Leviathan!, explores both the romanticised glories and the actual horrors of the 19th Century whaling industry.

The record also boasts a bigger, bolder sound that has bled into a revamped live show where a heftier rhythm section now features a new double-drum kit set up.

Over the past few years Blackbeard’s Tea Party has performed at festivals as diverse as Glastonbury, Cambridge Folk Festival, Fairport’s Cropredy Convention and The Rainforest World Music Festival, in Borneo.

Formed in 2009 after meeting at the University of York, the group was originally conceived as a busking band to bring in some extra ‘pocket money’ but it soon started drawing increasingly bigger crowds.

The band members come from diverse musical backgrounds and their list of influences is eclectic.

The decision on which songs to arrange, as well as the writing of original material, is usually led by Stuart Giddens whose influences tend to be from folk artists like Jim Causley, Eliza Carthy, Tim van Eyken, Stan Hugill, and Cyril Tawney - as well as groups such as Le Vent du Nord. The contemporary twists that the band gives their arrangements come from rock and metal artists including Primus, Rammstein, Iron Maiden, Tool and Led Zeppelin.

The band is also inspired by classic funk groups, pop artists and the dark storytelling style of Nick Cage.

Its Otley Courthouse show starts at 8pm and tickets cost £12. They can be booked by visiting www.otleycourthouse.org.uk, calling (01943) 467466 or popping into the Courthouse on Courthouse Street, Otley.