LUCY Ward poses enigmatically on a beach, singing her haunting melody Icarus while the fading sun casts a long shadow over the bleached white sands.

The dreamscape scene could have been filmed in a faraway destination, with foaming surf rushing over the white, limestone pebbles behind her.

“I had planned to do the video track in my mum and dad’s bathroom in Derby, but we ended up filming it on a beach near Llandudno Pier,” joked Lucy.

“I had to walk through a shoal of jellyfish nipping at my feet to get to the surf.

“It was all a bit surreal and it was definitely my rock and roll moment.”

Lucy Ward rattled the folk establishment with her debut album, Adelphi Has To Fly, and when the singer songwriter landed the Best Newcomer prize at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, suddenly she was the new girl in town.

“I really can’t believe what has happened. The last 18 months have been a whirlwind,” she said.

“I never planned any of this. It has come completely out of the blue.

“I’m shocked and excited because I was working in a little homespun business.

“I got my Radio 2 award from Badly Drawn Boy and it was like ‘wow’.”

Now Lucy has been shortlisted for the coveted Folk Singer of the Year Award at next month’s Radio 2 Folk Awards.

But East Lancashire audiences will get the chance to see her at Clitheroe’s Grand Theatre next Friday when she headlines Womenfolk, a special concert which also features Emily Portman and Emma Sweeney.

A self-confessed music fanatic who’s dabbled in rock, musicals and even a church choir, Lucy discovered folk music almost by accident.

“Unlike a lot of other young folk musicians around, I didn’t grow up in a folky family,” added the 25-year-old. “All I knew about folk was from hearing Bob Dylan.

“My mum and dad bought me a guitar for my 14th birthday. I’d always been into lyrics and stories and these folk songs I was hearing really captured my imagination — they were mad tales and murder stories.

“Folk had this image of grey bearded men, Arran jumpers and leather sandals.

“That’s fine, but there is a new wave of folk music rushing in — a really buoyant scene. Kate Rusby, Eliza Carthy, Bellowhead and Mumford and Sons, have shone a giant search light on to the folk scene and it feels like we are part of something exciting.”

Lucy plays the ukulele, concertina, and acoustic guitar — and has a giant collection of punk vinyl she is especially proud of.

Her musical influences are rich and varied too. She tips a hat to Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin and The Clash and her brooding and often angry set takes the listener on a journey through personal tragedy, love and politics.

“I have a picture of Joe Strummer up in my house so folk hasn’t taken over all my tastes.

“I discovered The Clash’s music at school and their lyrics spoke to me with this powerful, punchy, political message. I was never going to write about dry stone walls or flocks of sheep after that.

“I became very militant, dyed my hair blue, stuck a ring in my nose and became a vegan. Folk music — and the lyrics to folk — can be a bit dark and twisted and sometimes they reflect the times.”

One of Lucy’s traditional folk songs, Alice in a Box, tells the story of Derbyshire hermit Alice Grace who, on being evicted from her cottage, lived in a box previously used for storing bacon, which had been given to her by the local butcher.

“I used to hear that story when I was a child, and when I did the song suddenly there was a revival in Alice’s story. Music can be a very powerful medium can’t it?”

Womenfolk, Grand Theatre, Clitheroe, Friday, January 31, Details from the box office on 01200 421599.