AN INTIMATE new venue in Burnley is using the promise of some ‘home comforts’ to lure some of Britain’s freshest folk talent to East Lancashire.

Part of a £140,000 makeover has seen The Front Room created at Burnley Mechanics, in the former Oliver’s Bar, to provide a cosier setting for emerging artists.

And plans for a launch gig on February 13 by John Smith, the Devon-based guitarist who has already been a key draw in folk circles at Glastonbury and The Green Man festivals, have been announced.

His headline shows and support slots for the likes of Jools Holland, Seth Lakeman and John Martyn have built on his early promise as 2003’s Young Acoustic Guitarist of the Year.

The new Mechanics season will also see Emily Barker and Gill Sandell, and Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman perform in the showcase space.

Regular open mic nights are envisaged and staff want the space to become a proving ground for up-and-coming college bands across Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

Mechanics spokesman Natalie Bohane said: “We’re really excited about the new Front Room space and the potential it offers to bring new and emerging artists to Burnley.

“We’re currently in the process of planning in more artists and performances for the new show season.”

The open-plan area, which connects with the refurbished lounge bar on the ground floor, has a long pedigree for informal acoustic gigs, having served for several years as a second stage for the Burnley International Blues Festival.

Earlier this year the Lancashire Telegraph reported that the former bar, at the front of the premises, would be transformed as part of a package which also saw a new dance studio established in the basement and an ice-cream parlour installed.

The Front Room, which can hold 100 for a seated function and 150 for a concert, is also the base for the Mechanics at Home project, a series of creative workshops backed by the Department of Communities focusing on the town’s Trinity and Bank Hall wards.

After the death of star John Martyn’s death, John Smith appeared on a tribute album to Martyn with Bombay Bicycle Club, Paolo Nutini, Snow Patrol, Phil Collins and Beth Orton.