“We’ve played all sorts of places,” he continues. “The smallest was in Exmoor: we were setting up and a bloke walked past, said ‘afternoon’ and went through a door. When we heard a flushing sound we realised it doubled up as the public toilet”. This is only the second time in the whole tour they will have played at a folk club. “In this country the keepers of the faith can be very narrow-minded about what constitutes ‘folk music’. But in the States we’d definitely be considered folk, as we are singer-songwriters singing story-led songs.”

I ask him what it’s like playing with such a legendary figure as Hank. “I could tell you a few stories,” he says. “Go on then…” “Maybe later. He’s a larger than life figure. So many people come up to him and say that they saw him play 25 years ago or whatever. They’re sometimes amazed to see that he’s still upright.”
He sure is upright. As well as holding down a job as a gynaecologist and touring the country with Reg, Hank has become a regular travel writer for the Guardian. Who knows where he went for all those years, but his star is certainly in the ascendency again. This time I’ll bring a pen. AL