They record in a studio they call The Cell but James Edwyn and the Borrowed Band will be let loose this weekend.

The Glasgow group, who love the likes of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, are set to perform at this year’s Best of the West festival, set in the lush surroundings of Inveraray Castle.

And the six-piece earned a slot at the bash after impressing organisers, including the Duchess of Argyll, with their entry for an online competition.

“We entered the Calmac Culture competition by sending in a video of one of our songs, which we did,” explains James.

“We got invited to the final, which was at King Tut’s, and we’ve been asked to play a bunch of festivals as a result, like opening at Hebcelt (the Hebridean Celtic festival), doing Oban Live and then doing Best of the West.

“It’s been really great and we’ve found ourselves getting a new audience – that’s been one of the best things about a competition like this.”

One of the most appealing opportunities is their Best of the West slot, which will see them play on early Sunday afternoon. Held at the Duchess of Argyll’s family home of Inveraray Castle, the event is now in its sixth year.

It offers a weekend of bands, fresh local food and crafts, and will this year be headlined by the award-winning trad band Manran and Highlands lads Skipinnish. It has also meant that James and the rest of the Borrowed Band have found themselves playing to a slightly different audience.

“I met the Duchess quite recently actually, and was given a home baked cupcake by her,” chuckles the singer.

“She was really lovely, and I’m looking forward to playing for her. We don’t normally get royalty at our gigs, although you never know – maybe there’s folk there undercover and down at the front.

“I think everyone in Glasgow goes up to Inveraray for a weekend at some point. I was there for the Connect festival a few years ago, so I know the grounds and that it’s a really lovely place.”

The Borrowed Band are appropriately named. Originally James was playing in various other groups, and when he decided to develop some solo songs, he asked pals from his other acts to help.

Fast forward a few years and the Borrowed Band have now become quite settled as a regular act. They’ve played the likes of Celtic Connections in the past, and released debut album The Tower in 2014.

That was a record that took their ability to borrow musicians to new heights, when they managed to get the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to appear on a song. Yes, the entire orchestra…

“We were working on The Last Waltz, and it was quite a long song,” explains James, who’s from Scotstoun.

“We wanted to build it up, and originally we planned to get a string quartet in. Our guitarist, Ronnie Gilmour, has a colleague who used to play in Love and Money (Paul McGeechan, who played keyboards with them) but was now working on another project called Starless that involved the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

“They had some spare time in their session, so we were able to borrow them for 10 minutes, having written out all the music for them – when Paul was in Prague he gave them it and managed to get it recorded there.”

The band are currently working on the follow-up to The Tower, which was well received by critics. However their surroundings for the album aren’t quite as nice as Inveraray Castle.

“We call our studio The Cell, because there’s padded rooms and no windows,” laughs James.

“It’s out in the West End and we just lock ourselves in to work on songs there. We’ve got access to that all the time, which great – it means we can practice and it’s helped us get more cohesive as a band.”

Best of the West festival, Saturday/Sunday, £39.50 weekend tickets, £24 for day tickets.