A sold out Mechanics welcomed the corkscrew-haired chanteuse like a long-lost daughter as she stepped out on the first date of a UK tour.

For Rusby regulars there was the usual mixture of Barnsley banter and a voice so pure it was almost ethereal. The fairy lights and girlie guitar lead remain but there’s a new mug of tea for this tour - Yorkshire Tea, naturally.

Motherhood has given Ms Rusby a rich seam of comedy gold to mine as she chatted away between songs - surely someone will give her a TV series of her own at some point.

Backed by husband Damien O’Kane, who seemed compelled to re-tune his guitar at every opportunity, and the rest of her band, the two hour show was filled with some familiar favourites and two new songs which make her forthcoming album an appealing prospect.

Many of the songs were from the album 20, released a couple of years ago to celebrate 20 years as a professional singer in which she re-worked many of her favourite songs.

Kate Rusby is one of Britain’s greatest folk artists but that voice is deserving of a much wider audience - she could sing the phone book and you’d be enchanted.