Fairport Convention: English Folk Rock Band Formed in 1967

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, who was replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig. Their early set lists were dominated by Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs, and their sound earned them the nickname "the British Jefferson Airplane". Judy Dyble and Iain Matthews joined before the recording of their self-titled debut in 1968; Dyble was later replaced by Sandy Denny.

Denny steered the group towards traditional British music on What We Did on Our Holidays (1968) and Unhalfbricking (1969), the latter featuring fiddler Dave "Swarb" Swarbrick on "A Sailor's Life". A crash on the M1 motorway killed Lamble and Jeannie Franklyn shortly before the album's release, after which the group retired most of their prior material and turned entirely towards British folk music for Liege & Lief, released the same year. Swarbrick joined full-time for that album, alongside drummer Dave Mattacks.

Denny and Hutchings both left before the end of 1969; Hutchings was replaced by Dave Pegg, who has remained the group's sole consistent member. Thompson left after the recording of 1970's Full House. The group disbanded in 1979 after a farewell concert in the village of Cropredy, Oxfordshire, which marked the beginning of the Cropredy Festival, since 2005 known as Fairport's Cropredy Convention.

The band was reformed by Nicol, Pegg and Mattacks in 1985, joined by Maartin Allcock and Ric Sanders, and they have remained active since. Allcock was replaced by Chris Leslie in 1996, and Gerry Conway replaced Mattacks in 1998. Conway departed in 2022 owing to Motor Neuron Disease, and Mattacks returned on a part-time basis.

Their 29th studio album, Shuffle and Go, was released in 2020, and they continue to headline Cropredy each year. Liege & Lief was named the "Most Influential Folk Album of All Time" at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2006.