A chance meeting with a Manx group at a UK festival has led a touring folk and roots duo to visit the island for a series of concerts.

Uphill and Still will play three shows in the Isle of Man next weekend, at the Mitre, in Ramsey, on Thursday, the Atholl Room at the Peel Centenary Centre on Friday and the Laxey Institute on Saturday, February 27, 28 and 29.

The group feature multi-instrumentalists and singers Jon Marleau and Maddy Hill, who play an eclectic mix of country and roots music, along with traditional folk music gathered from many of the countries they have played in.

They came across the local group The Fecktones’ during their gig at last year’s Green Gathering Festival, held in Monmouthshire and were so impressed with what they heard they decided they had to find out more about the Isle of Man, which up until then didn’t amount to much more than hearing about the TT.

’We were blown away by the Fecktones,’ said Maddy.

’They were so high energy and fun, and had this huge driving sound that sent the whole tent in to a frenzy. I think they described themselves in the programme as a "Balkan, gypsy, shanty rave" group.

’After spending a bit of time with them after the show and over the course of the weekend we were like, "woah, we need to go to the Isle of Man, these guys are amazing", such open, genuine people.

’We stayed in touch afterwards, and mentioned that we were going to try and set up some shows on the island as part of a UK tour.

’Sue Quilliam from the Fecktones really made it happen, she put us in touch with all the right people and set up our show with them at the Peel Centenary Centre.

’We’re so excited for this leg of the tour!’

Maddy and Jon formed Uphill and Still after a chance meeting in New Zealand, where they were both travelling.

Maddy, from the UK, chanced upon an impromptu jam session at a remote campsite and met Jon, from Canada, who was travelling with friends and a collections of instruments.

They teamed up and played as often as they could, wherever they could, eventually naming themselves after a car they ended up touring in.

At the end of their time in New Zealand, they decided to keep on travelling and performing together.

’Travelling lends itself nicely to the folk genre,’ said Maddy.

’You have stringed and acoustic instruments that will take a beating, lightweight and easy to whip out in a jam setting, though we do now have more instruments than we could travel with on foot.

’Folk is also a varied and accessible genre - the "people’s" music.

’We found it was easy to connect with people from different backgrounds, and cultures. There’s usually someone who can play a few chords, or sing, or generally relate to what we were playing.

’We never had the discussion, "let’s be a folk duo". It was more, "let’s see where this music takes us".’

Maddy and Jon’s sound has been formed by their travels over the years and they have tried to learn and include many genres and styles of roots music into their set, taken from where ever they have played and wandered.

’Over the two years we spent busking and performing across Canada, we were particularly amazed and enchanted by music in the Maritimes, the East Coast provinces.

’We found a culture rich in trad-Folk and Celtic music.

’This inspired us massively, especially with the collective and social attitudes towards music and events.

’We found darker, grittier sounds on our journey west, and there’s a strong underground scene of travelling musicians, with hitchhiking and freight-riding across the vast journey from coast to coast.

’We lived in a van during this time and would pick up many travellers.

’Country and Bluegrass found it’s way into our hearts while out West, and in the UK we’ve found our murky history and folklore to be inspiring.’

The Peel concert has sold out, but there are tickets available to see Uphill and Still, supported by their friend Jon Lepp, in Ramsey, available by contacting the Mitre Hotel, priced £4 and for Laxey, priced £5, available by emailing Matt Kelly at [email protected]

by Mike Wade

Twitter:@iomnewspapers