FOLK legend Tom Paxton is pleased to be returning to Worcester.

"Huntingdon Hall has always been good to me," he said, speaking to your Worcester News before his UK tour and visit to the city next weekend.

Now aged 70, Paxton has been writing, performing and recording music for more than 40 years. In the 60s he became a mainstay of New York's Greenwich Village folk scene, much loved for his emotionally-charged lyrics with enduring appeal.

He describes his new album, Comedians and Angels, as an album of love songs.

"The first and final tracks are full of love," he said.

"With How Beautiful Upon the Mountain (the opening track), I tell people that I was skimming through the Bible passages for my final exams and I came across that verse, Isaiah 52:7. I thought it was so stunning, it became the chorus."

The album is obviously deeply personal.

So to, Paxton said, was the recording. "I think it's the fourth or fifth record with Jim Rooney," he said.

"Although I've known him since the early 60s, we didn't start working together until 1993 and he is the man. It was just wonderful to go into the studio in Nashville with Jim. He knows all the players."

Those "unbelievably talented musicians" Paxton recorded Comedians and Angels with join a long list.

"Yeah, I've played with some great musicians," he said. "I have stood side by side with Pete Seeger and sung. That's something you never forget.

"I also remember the Woody Guthrie concert, just after Woody had died. Everybody was there - Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Pete - it was spine-tingling."

In 2002, Paxton received a lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers (ASCAP), followed in 2005 by a Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting from BBC Radio; and in 2006, another lifetime achievement award from the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance. He performs at Huntingdon Hall on Saturday, January 26.

For tickets, priced £20, call the box office on 01905 611427.