The Be Good Tanyas are busy tuning up their mandolins, fiddles, and banjos as they prepare for their first headlining tour. The all-female trio starts things off with a gig in their home country of Canada on April 12 before tackling clubs and festivals south of the border.

Come June 30, the Tanyas set off for the U.K. where they’ll play 12 shows, including a four-night stand at the Cambridge Folk Festival. Afterward, they return to the States for another two week run, concluding everything with a two-night stand at the Strawberry Festival in Yosemite, Calif.

The Be Good Tanyas loosely came together in the mid-‘90s when Frazey Ford and Samantha Parton met while doing a tree plant in Canada. Ford and Parton realized a shared love for early American country, blues, folk, and jazz, and started jamming together. Trish Klein, who knew Ford previously, eventually completed the trio and The Be Good Tanyas were officially formed.

They released their debut album, Blue Horse, earlier this year.

Hailing from Northern England, Kate Rusby brings a different spin to folk music as she takes her trio – herself, John McCusker and Andy Cutting – on the road. Having just begun their tour, the Kate Rusby Trio will remain in the States until the beginning of May before heading back home. Rusby has 12 solo shows on the books for June before hooking up again with her Trio.

Rusby released her fourth album, Little Lights, last year to warm reviews in the folk music circles. She recently received five BBC 2 Radio Folk Music Award nominations for the album, taking home one for best original song. No stranger to the award show, Rusby was shortlisted on the prestigious Mercury Music Prize in 1999 for her album Sleepless.

In addition to a steady presence on the touring scene, Rusby and Trio member McCusker have been busy writing part of the score for Miramax film “Heartland,” which is due out this year.