YEARS spent touring with folk-rock favourite Beth Orton, have served Whitstable’s Ted Barnes well in honing his performance and songwriting capabilities.

For the last few years he has had his own project, Clayhill, on the boil, which is now starting to enjoying its moment in the music limelight. The Daily Telegraph proclaimed that this would be the band’s year, and it could well be with the release of their second album Mine At Last.

Signed to independent label Eat Sleep Records, their melancholy melodies are showing strong signs of forging a sizeable following. While they may not be the kind of flashy guitar band that traditionally grabs a slice of the pop market, their well-crafted tunes offer a rewarding listen.

"We love working together as band, there is such a good vibe, we are really chuffed with the album and have achieved all the objectives we set out to with it," explained Ted.

"Myself and our singer, Gavin Clark (who is from Maidstone) like darker sounds, which is refectled by the fact I come from a jazz and instrumental musical background. I wouldn’t say our music is miserable though, I prefer to think of it as bittersweet."

The 36 year-old, who was originally born in the West Country, moved to Kent as a teenager to study model making at art college in Medway. But he soon lost interest in this and found himself drawn towards music, playing the Irish guitar-like instrument the Bouzouki.

"I found myself playing gigs locally but had no ambitions to make playing music my career and ended up being a guitar maker in London.

"I was introduced to Beth Orton by Ali from our band. She asked me if I wanted to tour with her and it just went from there, with me co-writing and playing guitar with her. Beth is a complex soul, but one of the funniest women I know."

Eager to forge fresh creative directions, they parted on amicable terms following Beth’s award-winning Daybreaker album. They’ve remained friends and Clayhill even supported Beth on tour earlier this year.

Ted lives with his daughter in Whitstable and has set up a studio there. He has plenty of affection for his adopted county, but speaks with frustration at its music scene.

"I just don’t get what is happening in Kent - its lack of venues is a real problem. I’ve been trying to find somewhere suitable for the band to play for the last three years in the county and there just doesn’t seem to be anywhere.

"I would like to play in Whitstable though and am thinking of doing the playhouse which is a lovely building."

- Clayhill play Bush Hall in London on Wednesday, May 24 as part of their UK tour. For ticket details call 0208 222 6933. To hear the group’s music see www.clayhillmusic.com.