HER family tree reads like a who's who of English folk music but Eliza Carthy is at great pains to stress she doesn't want to be seen as a folkie.

"I'm a traditional musician," she said, "it's as simple as that."

Certainly she's one of the most hard-working musicians and on Wednesday she's coming to Burnley Mechanics to give fans a sneak preview of her new album Dreams of Breathing Underwater which will be released next year.

"It is the first album of original material I've done in six years," said Eliza. "I just wanted to do a couple of small tours before it comes out in April to prepare us for some bigger dates and the festivals next year."

With influences ranging from rock, big band swing and even the rhythms of Latin America, the album promises to be typically eclectic, although inevitably it will be classed under folk by many people.

"I don't like the idea of labels," said Eliza, "I take English traditional music as my starting point but like countless generations before me I'm open to all sorts of influences.

"When you hear these comments about the purity of folk music, it's rubbish.

"Musicians listen to what's around them and take those influences on board.

"I suppose I used to see myself as a bit of a missionary. I'm going to have been playing for 20 years next year and when I first started, the mainstream music scene was very blinkered.

"Everything fitted in to its box and no one was allowed in.

"Once your music was defined that was it. Now the world is more accepting and if you stand up and say this is what I do', people respect you for it."

When she comes to Burnley, Eliza will be without her band The Ratcatchers (including Spiers and Boden from the highly-acclaimed Bellowhead).

Instead she will be joined by the musucians who play on her new album "John and Jon are so busy with Bellowhead and other projects, we're giving the Ratcatchers a bit of a rest," said Eliza.

  • Eliza Carthy plays Burnley Mechanics on Wednesday, December 5. For further details contact the box office on 01282 664400.