ONE OF the biggest cult names in American music is coming to Penzance later this year in what promises to be a fascinating collaboration.

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy will join psyche-folk band Trembling Bells at the Acorn Arts Centre on Wednesday, May 2, as part of a Routes Southwest tour, which also takes in Exeter, Bristol and Cheltenham, and which allows them to take in the Obby Oss May Day celebrations in Padstow.

This rare gig will see the Trembling Bells playing, singing and duelling with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy performing a new collection of songs written by the band, some of which appear on the forthcoming collaborative album The Marble Downs on Damon Albarn's Honest Jon's label. This will be the first time these songs are going to be performed live.

Trembling Bells' lead vocalist Lavinia Blackwall will sing in duet with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. Alex Neilson, the chief songwriter for the Trembling Bells, plays drums, while Simon Shaw on bass and Mike Hastings on guitar make up the pack. Originals, covers and traditional songs will be featured in the set.

Based in Glasgow, Trembling Bells are a group of 21st-century troubadours who meld traditional folk forms with the romanticism of country music, the deceptive complexity of medieval music and the swagger of classic rock. Medieval ballads, Sinatra and Dylan are the guiding lights in a music that embraces British folk-rock, American roots and electric psychedelia.

The band have gained favour with such musical titans as Joe Boyd, Paul Weller, The Unthanks and Mike Heron (Incredible String Band) as well as unanimous critical acclaim for their three albums, while also being mentioned in Rob Young's acclaimed book, Electric Eden.

The singer-songwriter and actor Will Oldham (AKA Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Palace) has released over 20 albums and numerous other music formats, predominantly on Drag City and Domino Records. He is a popular and cult figure who, through his mix of honesty and enigma, has created a canon of work that is regarded very highly throughout the world.

He cleverly twists American (and other) folk/roots heritage into new shapes and forms, all presented with his uncompromising indie ethics.

His songs can be sweet and open-hearted or detached and cracked. He has an ability to sound ancient and modern, intimate and carefree.

He has worked with numerous musicians including his brothers as well as David Pajo (Papa M/Slint), Bjork, Sean O'Hagan and Matt Sweeney of Chavez and Zwan, Faun Fables' Dawn McCarthy, Jim O'Rourke and the Dirty Three's Jim White.

He picks his collaborations and counterpoints extremely well. Defining career releases include Ease Down The Road, Viva Last Blues, Lie Down In The Light and his 1993 debut There Is No-One What Will Take Care Of You, with Johnny Cash covering his I See A Darkness with grace and despair.

Oldham has a habit of seeking out commanding female voices and he doubtlessly viewed the pairing with Lavinia Blackwall as a gift.

His Southern gent tones provide an intriguing contrast to her archetypal English folk siren vocals.

The album's epic opener, I Made A Date (With An Open Vein)" rises on a cloud of drums, brass, vocal harmonies and Michael Hastings' guitar line that drips like electric honey. From there we pass through Grand Ole Opry-style singalongs (I Can Tell You're Leaving), spectral ballads (Excursions Into Assonance) and full-throttle psychedelic rock (Ain't Nothing Wrong With A Little Longing).

The band also prove themselves to be inventive interpreters of other people's songs with a reading of the traditional My Husband's Got No Courage In Him, a Krautrock revamping of Robin Gibb's Lord Bless All and a pummelling version of the early Palace classic, Riding.

The Marble Downs is a triumphant exercise in major key ensemble playing concerned with minor key heartbreak, and a marriage of some of the most mercurial and imaginative musicians around.

This unmissable concert starts at 8pm and tickets are £15 from www.crbo.co.uk, Mount's Bay Music, Penzance, and www.seetickets.com