They have gone from playing pubs in north London in the ‘60s, to living in a commune in Hertfordshire, then starting up a festival that attracts 20,000 people every year and are now back on the road with music from their latest album Myths and Heroes. So what has kept Fairport Convention going for so many years?

“We haven’t become our own tribute act and we’re continually moving things forward, which his very important,“ says guitarist Simon Nicol, the only founding member still in the band that has seen more than 20 different line-ups.

He is joined in the current line-up by Dave Pegg, Ric Sanders, Chris Leslie and Gerry Conway, and it has been going 18 years, but Simon jokes: “They still feel like the new boys to me.”

The 64-year-old started the band back in early ‘60s with bassist Ashley Hutchings, lead guitarist Richard Thompson and Shaun Frater on drums. They took their name from the medical practice Fairport in Muswell Hill where Simon’s father worked and where they used to practise their music.

“I was going to gigs when I was about 12,” says Simon, “because they were everywhere. And I was like a sponge and things were very relaxed back then. I went to everything from experimental jazz to blues and rock and R’n’B.

“Everyone my age had a guitar. It was a rite of passage to get one and most people went through the thing of performing in a band with their little school chums.”

He dropped out of doing his A-Levels at Friern Barnet Grammar when he was 15 and says “luckily” the band took off and was signed by Joe Boyd.

“We worked hard and we had some very strong things in the arsenal. There was a team spirit, Ashley’s vision and Richard’s guitar playing and we just caught the wave at the right time because 1966, ‘67 there was this amazing reinvention of youth as a driving force.

“We were very much aware of the social change, it was the summer of love and there was a tangible revolution going on.”

Embracing that ethos, the band moved with wives and girlfriends to a pub just outside Bishop’s Stortford to work on their sound.

“It wasn’t particularly comfortable, but we were very young,” says Simon.

“We had this room that used to be the skittle alley and we used to leave the gear set up in there. It was great for songwriting and trying out ideas. It was good for 18 months, but I wouldn’t want to go back there now.”

Their peace was shattered, literally, when a Dutch truck driver fell asleep at the top of the hill and crashed into the building with his artic lorry.

They then moved into the ‘folk rock belt’, with Simon settling in Abingdon, and the festival that is now Fairport’s Cropredy Convention began to emerge. Simon moved to Chipping Norton in 1979. The band traditionally start the tour just down the road in Tewkesbury.

Simon enjoys a slower pace than in the early days. In 1968 the band released an “unbelievable” three albums as well as being on the road, whereas their latest release, out officially on March 2, took four years to complete.

Songs have been largely written by Chris Leslie, including the title track, with other songs from “usual suspects” such as Ralph McTell, James Wood and PJ Wright. Simon is excited about bringing them out on tour, along with old favourites such as Crazy Man Michael, Meet on the Ledge and Matty Groves.

Neatly closing the circle, the tour will end at Union Chapel in Islington, close to where Simon grew up, but first the band will visit St Albans.

“The Arena is always a nice place for us to play and has a terrific sound,” says Simon who jammed with Jimi Hendrix back in the day.

“It’s just one of those places you mark the calendar with. There are a number of places we never miss out and St Albans is one of those.”

And the secret to Fairport’s enduring popularity?

“Luck and timing have been part of it. If I knew what it was that kept the audiences coming back and could put it in a bottle I would be rich, but it’s a mystery. But I’m very glad it happened.”

Alban Arena, Civic Centre, St Albans, Friday, February 20, 7.30pm. Details: 01727 844488, alban-arena.co.uk, fairportconvention.com

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