ACCLAIMED duo Joe Driscoll and Sekou Kouyate will play at the Troyfest music festival at Baskerville Hall, near Hay-on-Wye, on Sunday, May 5.

They’re playing as part of their UK tour, which will see the pair perform at Glastonbury the following weekend.

Musically the singers’ backgrounds couldn’t be more different. Driscoll, who was once described by Cee-Lo Green as “the gangsta with an iron lung”, is a rapper and beatboxer, originally from New York.

Kouyate, meanwhile, who is originally from Conakry, Guinea, plays the kora, a 21- string bridge-harp, with world-renowned band Ba Cissoko and is known in France as the ‘Jimi Hendrix of the kora’.

When they first met, they didn’t even share a common language, but Driscoll didn’t foresee that being a problem: “There was an instant and palpable chemistry, and over the following months whenever we weren’t on the road, we were writing and recording.”

Their debut album Faya, which mixed afrobeat with hip-hop and reggae, was met by positive reviews, with Music Week saying it was “a fantastic meeting of different cultures and styles, it blends sounds and themes from opposite sides of the globe effortlessly.”

The pair join the list of more than 50 acts already confirmed to perform at Troyfest, which runs from noon on Friday, May 3 to Monday, May 6. Now in its third year, Troyfest takes place over three days and nights on three stages. With an eclectic lineup of bands and DJs, it prides itself on being the UK’s friendliest small festival. For full line-up and ticket availability, go to troyfest.co.uk.