Million-selling band Mumford & Sons to play at Whiteness and Weisdale Hall

Hugely popular folk-rock band Mumford & Sons are to play a show at Whiteness and Weisdale Hall as part of an intimate eight-date tour of the Highlands next month.

The quartet, who won a Brit award for album of the year this week, will perform at the 400-capacity venue on Wednesday 9th March. Tickets will only be available at two per person.

Local music promoter Davie Gardner – working with Highlands-based promoter Beyond – said it was a hugely exciting coup for Shetland and highlighted the growing popularity of the Highlands and Islands as a touring destination for big-name acts. He has a number of other possibilities in the pipeline for the year ahead.

“We’re absolutely delighted to get the option to take them to Shetland even in this limited way, and it’s a full show,” Mr Gardner said. “It shows there’s a very strong music industry eye on the Highlands and Islands at the moment. Watch this space – I hope there’s more to come.”

Mumford & Sons’ 2009 debut album Sigh No More has sold more than a million copies, spawning two top 40 singles in Little Lion Man and The Cave. It has also earned two Grammy nominations.

Arising from the same London folk-rock scene as Laura Marling and Noah and the Whale, the band consists of frontman Marcus Mumford, organ player and keyboardist Ben Lovett, banjo and dobro player “Country” Winston Marshall and bassist Ted Dwane.

Boasting a strong live reputation, the band’s own biography describes their music as a “gutsy, old-time sound that marries the magic of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the might of Kings of Leon”.