Mumford and Sons occupy the ballsy end of the current British folk-music scene, the louder, vibrant and more rousing territory previously occupied by the likes of The Oyster Band and The Men They Couldn't Hang. With the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Broken Records, Stornoway and Dry the River all vying for attention, Marcus Mumford's charges struck lucky with endless hard-touring and a clutch of catchy songs. Their 2009 debut (and so far, only) album 'Sigh No More', and its creators, notched up an impressive couple-of-dozen award nominations, winning Billboard, BRIT and ARIA awards, thus cementing their status as a truly global act.

Bearing all this in mind, Mumford and Sons have been a bit quiet of late - it seems like only yesterday that the band caused folking shed-loads of hysteria at Glastonbury last year. But their last actual proper headlining tour was as far back as autumn 2010, so what better way to celebrate than to organize your own series of one-day festivals AND a headline tour?

Called the Gentlemen of the Road Stopovers, the events have been curated by Mumford and Sons themselves and will call at towns that don't have a typical stream of live music events visit them. Huddersfield is the first choice on 2nd June 2012 with a line-up that will also feature award-winning vocalist Michael Kiwanuka, Willy Mason, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Correspondents, as well as local food, drink and people. Second stop is Galway on 9th June 2012 with the above except Kiwanuka. Instead, The Vaccines and Zulu Winter will grace the Irish West Coast!

Tickets for the Huddersfield Stopover will cost £49.50, while Galway carries an admission fee of €45. But that's not all.

Also on sale on 20th and 21st April are several headlining shows for Mumford and Sons themselves featuring stops in Cardiff on 30th May, Folkestone, Bury St Edmonds, Lowestoft and finally for now, Gateshead on 6th June. Prices for these exclusive concerts will cost from £23.50. We reckon Mumford and Sons will sell out all these, plus the Stopovers, pretty darned quickly.