At last I can say I've played at the great and historic Cecil Sharp House. Years ago when I first listened to Liege & Lief, I never imagined I'd be playing songs from that album at the place where it all started for Ashley Hutchings and his Fairport bandmates.
Despite all the usual pre-gig dashing around I managed to get a quick look round the famous library where Ash spent weeks and months researching the British folk back catalogue. All that hard work took Fairport in a new direction. As the show explained, up to that point Fairport were known in some circles as the English "Jefferson Airplane". Thanks to the library at Cecil Sharp House it all went off in a completely new direction, Matty Groves, The Deserter, Tam Lin and all. A high spot of the night was an audience member setting off "The Lark in the Morning" with a couple of whacks of the cowbell - Dave Mattacks style.
What a nice London crowd too, young and old. I bumped into Blair Dunlop plus a great old mate from college days. But to play "Crazy Man Michael" live, with the man himself on bass and the great Guy Fletcher on fiddle surpasses everything. I love my job!
This show reviewed here
