Many writers have soundtracks to their books, soundtracks they occasionally make public. With the media players available, it’s a snap to create a list of music you love to get you in the mood for writing.

Sometimes albums are released that you can play straight through, and somehow they work. I have a few. Not too many. But the songwriter’s vision works so well, the mood they create, that they do it for you.

For me, one of those is Seth Lakeman. Little known in the US, Lakeman is the new sensation in the UK, a man who writes and records, but is best in performance. He’s a folk musician, that genre which is sometimes (inaccurately) called “Celtic” in the USA.

For me, an Englishwoman, folk music is the music I was brought up to. Songs like “The Lincolnshire Poacher” and “Strawberry Fair” were taught in school. But folk is a continuing tradition, it doesn’t die. Artists like June Tabor and Eliza Carthy and her band the Ratcatchers have continued the tradition.

But if it doesn’t evolve, it dies. And I think Seth Lakeman is the next step. He has three albums to date. The first one, “Kitty Jay,” hit the music world like a bullet, and the moody style with Lakeman’s stunning musicianship fills this album with a concentrated mood, perfect for writing to. This album is legendary because it was recorded in the Lakeman kitchen for a total of around £400.

The title track is here on youtube. I love it. The tragic air, the mood it evokes, recollecting Seth’s native Cornwall gets me perfectly in the mood for writing.

The second album, “Freedom Fields,” sold 100,000 copies, which is pretty awesome for a folk artist. “Lady of the Sea” is a beautiful song, one I used a lot when I was writing “Liquid Crystal.”

And now we have “Poor Man’s Heaven.” Another progression from pure folk to something else, taking in rock beats and rhythms but retaining the essential folk feel of the music. The title track went straight into the top ten. And the current single is “The Hurlers,” the story of the standing stones on Dartmoor and how they came into being. Amazing song, from the tom-tom beginning to the heartfelt lyrics. And the video is set in a ruined castle, visually stunning.

The whole album is perfect for me to write to. Lakeman tells a story with each track, a perfect little story, making you feel the emotions and see the action. From war stories to wronged kitchen maids, from the story of the Penlee lifeboat, lost at sea with all hands in 1988, to the story of thousand-year old pagan stones, erected for a religion long forgotten.

He plays the fiddle and the tenor guitar, an instrument that looks a bit like a yukelele, but sounds completely different. His brother Sean produces his albums and his family play some of the instruments.

Doesn’t hurt that he’s easy on the eyes, too.

Could Seth Lakeman inspire you too?