Fairport Convention played its first concert in a church hall in May 1967. Based in suburban north London, the group had coalesced around bass guitarist Ashley 'Tyger' Hutchings.

The youngsters 'convened' for rehearsals at a house named Fairport, the family home of rhythm guitarist Simon Nicol. Thus was born the name of a band that has endured for over five decades.

As well as Hutchings and Nicol, there was lead guitarist Richard Thompson and Shaun Frater on drums.

However, that initial line-up only played the one gig. A young drummer, Martin Lamble, was in the church hall audience and he convinced the band that he could do a better job than the incumbent. It was the first of the bewildering flurry of line-up changes that characterised Fairport's first fifteen years.

Yet the line-up changes were to continue through in to the Twenty-First Century. Musicians came and went until, in 2002, Fairport Convention won the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Their album Liege And Lief was voted 'Best Folk Album Ever' by Radio 2 listeners and, in Summer 2006, Liege And Lief was awarded a Gold Disc for its continuing sales.

The current line-up of the band comprises Simon Nicol, lead vocal, rhythm and electric guitars; Dave Pegg, backing vocals, bass guitar, mandolin; Ric Sanders, violin; Chris Leslie, lead vocal, fiddle, bouzouki, banjo, mandolin and woodwind; and Gerry Conway, percussion and drums.