A FEMALE folk duo will stand shoulder to shoulder with crowds at Maldon Town Hall this weekend.

Chris While and Julie Matthews have been a double act for many years, winning the Best Duo category at the 2009 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, having been nominated ten times since 2001 in the Best Duo, Best Song and Best Live Act categories.

They will be performing at Maldon Town Hall this Sunday to perform songs from their new album “Shoulder to Shoulder”.

While and Matthews musical partnership began in 1993 when they were key members and writers in the legendary folk-rock group The Albion Band with Ashley Hutchings and Simon Nicol from Fairport Convention.

After four years, they left to concentrate on their work as a duo which has seen them tour throughout the world, with their songs being covered by a range of renowned artists, but it is their own interpretation of their songs that they are loved for.

Last year, they made the Radio 2 play list with their single “If This Were Your Last Day” and a live performance on Radio 2’s “Weekend Wogan” where Terry Wogan was moved to tears.

Both multi-instrumentalists, their musical careers have produced many successful solo albums and a variety of projects away from the duo including the Christmas band “St Agnes Fountain” with Maldon based songwriter and guitarist David Hughes and Fairport Convention’s Chris Leslie.

Chris While is regarded as one the country’s finest singers and also a fine songwriter, with four solo albums of her own to date. She has recently been collaborating with renowned English songwriter Charlie Dore which feature on the new album tour.

Julie Matthews is a key songwriter for the Sony Award winning series of The Radio Ballads, made for BBC Radio 2, and is currently working on the latest series, The Ballads of the Great War. Her input into the Radio Ballads over the last decade has been more than 40 songs.

As a duo, the pair have released ten studio and two live albums to date.

The concert will take place at Maldon Town Hall on Sunday, with doors opening from 7.30pm for an 8pm start time.

Tickets are £15. To book, call 01621 856503 or visit www.mactheatre.org.uk.