Here's to 50 years of folk rock

The folk-rock heroes are marking 50 years of performances with the release of ‘50:50@50’ which features new original songs and live recordings of various fan favourites.

And their visit to The Cresset on February 26 will see the band playing a selection of tracks from the new record, alongside established hits from their ever-growing repertoire.

Founding member Simon Nicol hasn’t lost the buzz of performing even after a half-century of tours.

“Fairport Convention have been extraordinarily fortunate to create a work ethic based on live performance,” says Nicol.

“As someone whose hobby ultimately became a career, I’m happy every time the van pulls up outside my house to take me off on my travels, where the stage awaits, and I get a chance to make everyone happy that they made the choice to buy a ticket.”

The group, who revolutionised British folk music with their electric sound and traditional tunes in the summer of love of 1967, has survived numerous lineup changes over the decades and still performs with the passion and precision their reputation demands.

It’s not just the audiences who keep coming, Fairport Convention still attracts critical acclaim and won a coveted BBC Lifetime Achievement Award at the turn of the century. Radio 2 listeners also voted one of British folk music’s high water marks - the groundbreaking album ‘Liege & Lief’ - ‘The Most Influential Folk Album of All Time’ around the same time and the band still play many songs from the disc during their performances.

Fairport Convention’s current line-up is the longest running in the band’s history, with Simon Nicol on guitar and vocals, Dave Pegg on bass guitar, Chris Leslie on fiddle, mandolin and vocals, Ric Sanders on violin and Gerry Conway on drums and percussion.

Opening the concert will be BBC TV’s ‘The Voice’ 2014 runner up, Sally Barker.

Tickets from the box office on 01733 265705 or www.cresset.co.ul