Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots and folk duo comprising singer-songwriter Steve Knightley and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer. In recent years they have been accompanied on tour and in the studio by jazz double-bassist Miranda Sykes.
This song was written by Steve Knightley in response to a comment made by the Junior British Culture Minister Kim Howells in 2001. The comment was, that listening to three folk singers in a pub in Somerset was his idea of hell. Click hear for the BBC article about the Comment.