COUNTRY music's Johnny Cash may have given us A Boy Named Sue — but the folk world is currently celebrating the charms of a girl named Bill.

Bill Jones, that is. Initially confusing this cross-naming. But it does the trick. You don't forget a girl named Bill in a hurry.

This was the canny publicity conscious thinking of one Belinda Jones as she launched herself into a career as a folk singer.

'The up side is that people don't forget you after they have found out you are a girl,' says the bubbly 28-year old performer with a rapidly growing following.

'It has been quite a good publicity stunt. It has given me a lot more coverage because people can write headlines like 'Top of the Bill'. There have been so many puns . . .'

There is also a downside. And that is having to explain 'to person after person' what it is short for. Not to mention leaving messages for people that know her with people that don't — and therefore find it hard to get their head around a female voice on the line calling herself Bill.

The name may be a cunning handle to ensure far more than an initial fair share of attention — but the music holds it.

Mike Harding said he believed she was 'destined to be up there with the likes of Eliza Carthy and Kate Rusby'.

Early in 2001 Bill won the Horizon Award as the best newcomer of the BBC Folk Awards 2001 for her debut album 'Turn to Me'.

Her second and current CD 'Panchpuran' has also earned Bill huge acclaim for her interpretation of traditional material spiced with a contemporary twist.

A comparative newcomer she has the courage to be different. Bill takes traditional songs and infuses them with her own invigorating originality.

A brass ensemble join her on the track 'The Hexham Lad and The Blackleg Miner' — and a string quartet provide an engaging extra dimension to 'The Tale of Tam Lin'. Karen Tweed produced the tracks and some illustrious musicians such as Kathryn Tickell on fiddle, Dave Wood on guitar and Kellie While on harmony vocals also took part.

'I had a wish list. I asked these people if they would be interested and they said yes. I was very lucky.'

She says the folk world is very supportive — with a lot less back stabbing than the pop world.

'People like to help if they like your music.'

She trained in classical music but decided it wasn't for her. However that background was not wasted.

'There is a lot of classical music that I like — but ultimately it wasn't for me.'

It was while at Uni that she got deeply involved with folk and began listening to as much as she could.

'I was brought up playing folk tunes on the flute so I already had some of the musical language of folk.'

She says being a professional folk performer was something she always wanted to do but not something she believed would last.

'I never thought that I'd record a CD at all — let alone two. The CD did very well and got lots of radio play. We sent a copy to Andy Kershaw at Radio 2 and thought he'd use it as an ashtray. But he started playing it and so did Mike Harding . . .'

She says unlike pop the folk world isn't a route to instant wealth.

'It is not where you come if you want to earn large bucks and get rich. You will never be a millionaire through folk music.

'But I wasn't after that — I just wanted to do something with integrity. I never had expectations that I was going on Top of the Pops so I'm not bitter and twisted because I'm doing what I want. There is so much fabulous music under the folk banner that people don't know about.'

She is aiming to alter that by taking her kind of music far and wide — and reaching a big an audience as possible.

l Bill Jones is appearing at Folk on the Moor, Wotter, near Plymouth on Sunday, February 24 (Tel: 01752 708770).