Simon Nicol of Fairport Convention, back in the van with a bag of toffees
Fairport tour again in 2026 and are playing their annual Cropredy Convention in August, its 50th year. The rolling Kent landscape behind him, co-founder Simon Nicol looks back at almost six decades in the line-up, the first shows he ever saw and played, why he can’t wait to get back on the tour bus again, and … … the intoxication of live music – “lost in a moment that’s never happened before and won’t be repeated” … Count Basie at the Astoria, aged 7 – “the moulded Turkish ottomans! The massed ranks of brass!” … December 4 1972, the day he left the band (and why) … “we’ve been self-governing…
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