Gloucestershire singer-songwriter Johnny Coppin is performing a special concert at The Bacon Theatre, Cheltenham, on Saturday, September 23rd, at 7.30pm.

The concert will mark the 40th Anniversary of the release of the album Forest and Vale and High Blue Hill.

This album of Gloucestershire poems set to music was first launched at the Cheltenham Literature Festival to wide critical acclaim. This then led to a BBC TV programme, another Gloucestershire album English Morning, and the Edge of Day album with Laurie Lee.

This unique event portrays the beauty of Gloucestershire, the Cotswolds and beyond through the music of Johnny Coppin, with Paul Burgess on violin and recorder, Geoff March on cello, and the stunning photography of Martin Fry.

They are all passionate about this landscape that has inspired poets, writers, artists and composers over the years.

Among the songs are words by poets such as Ivor Gurney, F W Harvey, Laurie Lee, Frank Mansell, Eva Dobell, and Leonard Clark, including much-loved songs like This Night the Stars, A Song of Gloucestershire, and Cotswold Lad.

As well as the local songs - now on The Gloucestershire Collection CD - the concert will also include material from Johnny's latest CD River of Dreams.

Johnny says: "I'm really looking forward to performing these songs again. In the early 1980s I came to fully appreciate the beauty of my adopted county - the Forest, The Vale, and the "high blue hills" of the Cotswolds.

"Around the same time I began discovering the work of local poets such as Ivor Gurney and F W Harvey. I set several poems to music to express my love of the area, and the resulting album has seemed to strike a chord with many people over the years."

Tickets are priced £19 and available on 01242 258002 or via the Bacon Theatre website.