Pioneering British folk rockers Fairport Convention will play a gig at London’s Cutty Sark this month as part of their autumn UK tour, celebrating 57 years in the music business. The legendary rock group, fronted by late frontwoman Sandy Denny in the 1960s, are behind folk classics Who Knows Where The Time Goes, A Sailor’s Life and Fotheringhay.
The current lineup features founder Simon Nicol on guitar and vocals, Dave Pegg on bass, Ric Sanders on fiddle, Chris Leslie on fiddle, mandolin and vocals and Dave Mattacks on drums. Fairport Convention will play at the Cutty Sark Dry Berth on Sunday, October 27 at 7pm, and tickets cost £40.
Founded by Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol in 1967, Fairport Convention was part of a wave of British folk music – including Ewan MacColl, Steeleye Span, Pentangle, The Watersons, Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins and more – that brought Britain’s long-forgotten folk past . to a new audience, revealed the repertoire of songs at London’s Cecil Sharp House after decades of lying dormant.
Inspired by Bob Dylan’s folk revival in the US, these old songs – sung in earthy local dialects with guitars, mandolins and fiddles – were revived as close to their origins as possible. The band established Fairport’s Cropredy Convention in Oxfordshire in the 1980s, which has become the UK’s largest folk festival, with an annual audience of 20,000
Although the band’s lineup has seen many changes, one thing has remained the same – Fairport’s passion for performance. This year’s Autumn Tour will feature a mix of long-established Fairport favorites and some surprises from old and new albums.
Fairport Convention have won a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award, and Radio 2 listeners voted for their breakthrough album Liege & Lief “The most influential folk album of all time”. Their story has also been celebrated with television documentaries on BBC Four and Sky Arts.
Fairport Convention play at the Cutty Sark on Sunday 27th October from See HERE for tickets.
