Cornish folk star Ruarri Joseph's new Americana rock project William The Conqueror will be playing at several festivals around Cornwall this month as hype continues to grow.

The trio has recently become an industry buzz band, getting snapped up by promoters Metropolis/Live Nation, after they were championed by influential media.

William The Conqueror features Ruarri Joseph, a former folk singer-songwriter who walked away from a major record label deal with Atlantic Records to explore the music he wanted to make – which took a rock direction after he felt boxed in by Atlantic’s vision for his music.

Ruarri said: “I think Atlantic wanted to box me in as something I wasn’t but I didn’t know what I was either so it made sense to leave and just get out on the road, see if I could figure it out. I spent a lot of time on the folk circuit just by virtue of the fact I had a beard and an acoustic guitar, it paid the bills but again didn’t feel like I was following my creative instincts as opposed to trying to get by.

"I reached a point where I thought my younger self that had cut his teeth in punk and rock bands would’ve been disappointed in what I’d become so William started as a way to pay homage to that youth that got side lined when life got in the way.”

Ruarri recently appeared in Laura Barton's BBC Radio 4 documentary Notes from a Musical Island, discussing the balance he maintains between the demands of touring and the allure of the Cornish surf off Newquay and the woods and hills of his childhood home.

Hailing from the North coast of Cornwall, the band also features multi-instrumentalists Harry Harding and Naomi Holmes. The debut album charges through ten raw tracks, asserting itself with opener In My Dreams, a song about destiny, disappointment and defiance; driving drums and heart racing bass setting the tone. Other standouts include the confessional and timeless Pedestals, the mysteriously triumphant Cold Ontario and epic future single Tend To The Thorns with its earworm guitar hooks, blistering drums and ethereal harmonies.

Sculpted off the radar with no-one to answer to but themselves the band ended up recording the album in Ruarri’s garage after plans to record it on the Isle of Lewis were hampered by a hurricane killing the power. Undeterred and embracing the ethos of roots based producers such as Ethan Johns and Ryan Hewitt and with input from Slowdive’s Neil Halstead, they were adamant they wanted to keep the edges loose, opting for single live takes and avoiding excessive overdubs, focusing on the vibe. The results sing with the confident energy of a band comfortable in their own skin, striking a vein of creativity and running with it.

The band will be playing at Exit Kernow Festival in St Agnes on July 8, Port Eliot festival on July 28, and Leopalooza near Bude on July 29, before returning to the Duchy for Boardmasters in Newquay on August 13.

For more information go to williamtheconqueror.net