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Chris Leslie | |
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 Leslie performing with the Fairport Convention in 2022 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 15 December 1956 Banbury, Oxfordshire, England |
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| Years active | 1973–present |
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| Website | chrislesliemusic |
Christopher Julian Leslie (born 15 December 1956) is a British folk rock musician. He joined Fairport Convention in 1997.
Leslie grew up in Banbury, Oxfordshire. His brother John steered him toward The Watersons' Frost and Fire, Dave Swarbrick, and The Corries. In 1969 he began to teach himself fiddle and modelled himself on the fiddle-playing of Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention, Peter Knight of Steeleye Span, and Barry Dransfield.
Leslie made his first recording at the age of 16, with a Banbury-based folk rock band and then went on to forge a successful career around the folk clubs with his brother John - cutting their first album, The Ship of Time in 1976. During this period he was also the fiddle player for The Hookey Band and a member of the morris dancers at Adderbury. It was around this time that he first came to the attention of Fairport's Dave Pegg.
From 1981-1983 Chris Leslie studied violin making, under the watchful eye of maker Patrick Jowett, at the Newark School of Violin Making in Nottinghamshire, England. He currently plays the second fiddle he made at Newark on stage.
Since then he has worked with Steve Ashley, Whippersnapper, the Albion Band, All About Eve, Simon Mayor and Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull). In 1981 he contributed to a cassette tape of peace songs by Steve Ashley released by CND entitled Demo Tapes. Also on the tape were sessions by members of Fairport Convention, Dave Pegg, Simon Nicol and Bruce Rowland. In 1983 he contributed to More Demo Tapes, another Steve Ashley cassette album for CND. He also accompanied Steve Ashley on his song "Down By the Old Embankment" on the album All Through the Year (1991). This was a compilation of original tracks by various artists. He also appeared on People on the Highway (Bert Jansch tribute album, 2000). There were other appearances on Steve Ashley albums (see discography). In 2003, Chris played violin on several tracks from Mostly Autumn's album Passengers. In late 2007 he recorded violin and mandolin parts on Dan Crisp's debut album Far From Here.
In 1997 he joined Fairport Convention as singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has recorded five solo albums - The Flow, The Gift, Dancing Days, Origins, Turquoise Tales and Fiddle Back. At first sight Dancing Days appears to be a Fairport Convention album, as it features Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg, Ashley Hutchings and Ric Sanders. However, each of these artists appears only in a sequence of duos with Leslie. He has also recorded collaborations with Ashley Hutchings including Grandson of Morris On .
Chris also takes part in an annual Christmas tour with St Agnes Fountain and also takes part in "A Feast of Fiddles" - a collaboration with Peter Knight, Tom Leary (The Hookey Band), Ian Cutler, Phil Beer (Show of Hands) and Brian McNeill (The Battlefield Band).
He is Buddhist, a vegetarian, and a teetotaler. [1]
David James Mattacks is an English rock and folk drummer, best known for his work with British folk rock band Fairport Convention.
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater. They started out influenced by American folk rock, with a set list dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs and a sound that earned them the nickname "the British Jefferson Airplane". Vocalists Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined them before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; afterwards, Dyble was replaced by Sandy Denny, and Matthews later left during the recording of their third album.
Dave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk and rock groups including the Ian Campbell Folk Group and Jethro Tull.
Woodworm Records was a record label created in 1979 to enable the British folk-rock band Fairport Convention to release their album Farewell, Farewell. The album was a recording of performances taken from the band's 1979 farewell tour. The impending break-up of the band had followed medical advice given to fiddle-player Dave Swarbrick to save his hearing by playing no more amplified music. As there was no record label willing to release the recording, bass guitarist Dave Pegg and his wife Christine formed their own label to release the album.
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, is a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. An important grouping in the genre, it has contained or been associated with a large proportion of major English folk performers in its long and fluid history.
The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone is the first solo album by Dave Pegg, of Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull. It was recorded at his Woodworm Studios in Barford St. Michael during spring 1983; it was released in 1983 as Woodworm WR003.
Simon John Breckenridge Nicol is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the band. He has also been involved with the Albion Band and a wide range of musical projects, both as a collaborator, producer and as a solo artist. He has received several awards for his work and career.
Over the Next Hill is a 2004 album by the band Fairport Convention.
Sense of Occasion is a 2007 album by British folk rock veterans Fairport Convention, recorded in November 2006 in the band's own Woodworm studio in Oxfordshire, and released in February on the band's own Matty Grooves Records label. The band have released over 30 albums since their debut, Fairport Convention, in 1968.
Grandson of Morris On is a thematic album produced by Ashley Hutchings and others.
This is a list of artists who have played at the various Fairport Convention Fairport's Cropredy Convention over the years.
The Cropredy Box is an album by Fairport Convention recorded at their annual live concert in Cropredy, Oxfordshire, England to celebrate the band's thirtieth anniversary in 1997. Featuring many songs for which the band had become noted, the set also features performances from many former members including violinist Dave Swarbrick, original vocalist Judy Dyble, and Ralph McTell. Commentary is provided by their first manager, Joe Boyd, and Ashley Hutchings.
Who Knows Where the Time Goes? is the twentieth studio album released in 1997 by British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is a mixture of studio and live tracks recorded by Mark Tucker at Woodworm Studios, Oxfordshire, The Cropredy Festival 1995 and the Fairport Convention Winter Tour 1997. It was Fairport Convention's first studio album with singer and violinist Chris Leslie, who replaced Maartin Allcock and would become a mainstay in the band.
The Wood and the Wire is album released in 1999 by British folk rock band Fairport Convention. It is the twenty-ninth album released by the band since their debut, Fairport Convention, in 1968.
XXXV is a 2002 album by Fairport Convention. It is subtitled "The 35th Anniversary Album", and was released in celebration of the band's existence from 1967–2002. It is their 30th album release since their debut, Fairport Convention, in 1968.
Steve Frank Ashley is an English singer-songwriter, recording artist, multi-instrumentalist, writer and graphic designer. Ashley is best known as a songwriter and first gained public recognition for his work with his debut solo album, Stroll On. Taking his inspiration from English traditional songs, Ashley has developed a songwriting style which is contemporary in content while reflecting traditional influences in his melodies, poetry and vocal delivery.
Myths and Heroes is a 2015 album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2015 on the band's own Matty Grooves Records label. The band have released over 30 albums since their debut, Fairport Convention, in 1968.
50:50@50 is the twenty-eighth studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2017 to mark the band's 50th anniversary. Half of the album was recorded in the studio, and the other half is a selection of songs recorded from live performances.
Stroll On is the debut album by British singer-songwriter Steve Ashley. It was released in April 1974 in LP format on Gull Records and was critically acclaimed in the UK, being awarded “Contemporary Folk album of the Year” in the leading monthly folk magazine, Folk Review. It has been described as "a masterful, beautifully textured and gentle epic" and "a masterpiece of its kind – a beautiful, rich and deeply atmospheric collection of very English songs, like a musical impression of Dickens, Victorian Christmas cards and Thomas Hardy’s Wessex with a running concept concerning seasonal change". According to the music collectors' magazine Goldmine, it is "one of the key albums in the entire history of English Folk Rock".
Shuffle and Go is the twenty-ninth studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2020. It was their last to feature drummer Gerry Conway who left the group in 2022.
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