CONTEMPORARY folk band Vala were originally going to be a 90s covers group but a drunken night changed all that.

The quartet got together with the idea of becoming a wedding and function band but swapped the likes of Deep Blue Something's Breakfast At Tiffany's for bluegrass and Celtic music.

"It was kind of an accident," said guitarist Joe Forber, from Grappenhall.

"One time we were having a few beers at practice, it got too late to use the amps but we didn’t want to go home and so we busted the acoustics out."

Joe, Ellie Darlington, Jonjo Secker and Matt Hallsworth soon found they had a lot of the same influences and Vala was born.

Inspired by Brian Finnegan's Kan, BBC Folk Award winners Lau, Bellowhead and Kate Rusby, the band hope to become part of the folk music revival.

Cousins Ellie and Jonjo already have a grounding in the folk scene as they have family members in Chew the Roots and Tower Struck Down.

Violinist Ellie, from Latchford, said: "I think it’s brilliant that it’s coming back onto the scene because there was that big surge in the 90s when Celtic folk became popular with The Corrs and stuff like that.

"I’ve been immersed in the scene since then but I think it’s great that it’s coming back and I’d love to be considered part of it."

Orford resident Jonjo, who plays the mandolin and penny whistle, added: "With the folk revival there’s a chance we might hit the right thing at the right time."

Vala formed in March 2014 and played their first gig in February this year.

Jonjo, aged 27, said: "We wanted to make sure that we had our set really ready and polished before we started pushing out for gigs so we spent a lot of time behind the scenes."

Momentum started to gather after they performed as part Roughneck Riot's 10th anniversary show at the Pyramid.

Joe, who went to Lymm High School with Caitlin Costello from Roughneck Riot, said: "That was the most fun I’d had in years.

"It was just the third gig we’d done and we were amazed we were asked to play but we got a really good reaction. It did wonders for us."

Ellie, aged 23, added: "The crowd were really responsive. It was a really good atmosphere.

"In the main room there was a party vibe but in the room we played in it was really chilled out with people sat on the floor.

"Considering we’ve only done a handful of gigs we’ve certainly had a positive amount of feedback and people seem to be really interested."

The band, who perform in Thelwall, are now working on their own material – even if recording an album seems a long way off.

Bassist Matt Hallsworth, from Latchford, said: "We’re just trying to record stuff as we go along.

"We’re trying to get an EP sorted so we’re talking to a production house out towards Manchester which is helping us develop.

"The long term plan is to get an album of original material together but at the moment when we’ve got a tune finished we congregate in our house, set up the spare room and record it there."

Vala's long term goal is to record and perform music for a living and maybe perform at Cambridge Folk Festival and Broadstairs Folk Week in Kent somewhere along the way.

Ellie said: "I don’t think any of us are looking for fame. We’re just looking for our music to be recognised. We’d all like to do it as a career as we’ve all worked towards doing musical things."

Matt, aged 28, added: "We all know that we’re a bit too niche to live in multi-million pound mansions but it would nice not to have a day job."

- Vala perform at The Lounge in Springfield Street on Saturday at 8pm.

DAVID MORGAN