NEXT week East Lancashire duo Bad Cardigan take the next big step in their career when they head off with The Levellers for a 10-date tour of Holland and Germany.

The acoustic duo - Jack Anwyll and Tom Randall - will be the main support for the tour and during their 10 days on the road will also be clocking up their 250th live gig. Not bad for a duo who have only been playing together for four years.

"This tour is going to be a great experience," said Jack. "We have played with The Levellers before at various dates in the UK but to be invited on to their European dates is something special for us."

The dates follow on from a series of shows with post punk rockers New Model Army.

"We were playing in front of a totally different crowd," said Jack. "But actually there were a lot of similarities in terms of the ideas and values that we hold to be important."

New Model Army are fronted by Justin Sullivan.

"He is extremely intense," said Jack, "but he also knows how to put on a show and how to hold a crowd. His only advice to us was 'give them attitude' which is something we have always tried to do.

"I think when people see us come on stage with our acoustic guitars there's an assumption about what we're going to do, that it will be all little harmonies and twiddly stuff but that's not just us and when we start, we surprise people.

"We like to have a laugh but we are also very serious about our music. We have had to learn how to hold our own on big stages in front of audiences who don't know who we are or what we are about.

"You are never going to please everyone in an audience but you have to stay true to yourselves and that has won us a whole new set of fans along the way."

After four years together Jack from Whalley and Tom from Great Harwood, have a wealth of original material to choose from.

"The majority of songs we do now are new ones," he said. "We're hoping to go into the studio in the new year to work on an album but we probably have two more albums' worth of material available.

"We tend to work on the songs together and often I will come up with a melody and then Tom will work out the harmonies.

"He is an amazing guitar player and you really have to see him live to appreciate it. Sometimes I will be on stage with him and he surprises me with what he's doing."

With the band notching up the milestone of 250 gigs while on tour in Europe, Jack and Tom are planning a special show when they return to mark it.

In the meantime, it's next stop Europe.

"We're actually on the tour bus with The Levellers which will be a whole new experience," said Jack.