Among England's most influential fiddlers stood Dave Swarbrick. During his tenure with Fairport Convention from 1970 to 1979, he guided the group away from its Byrds-style folk-rock origins toward fresh adaptations of traditional jigs and reels from Great Britain. Even after those years, Swarbrick maintained ties to the Fairport Annual Reunion Festival in Cropedy while pursuing an array of independent work as a solo performer, as a duo partner alongside Martin Carthy, Simon Nicol, Alistair Hulett, and Pete Hawes, and as a participant in the tradition-rooted ensembles Whippersnapper and the Keith Hancock Band.
Although piano had been his first instrument, pianist Beryl Marriott steered Swarbrick toward the fiddle during the 1950s. He refined his abilities alongside the Ian Campbell Folk Group, in partnership with guitarist Carthy, and as accompanist to British folklorist A.L. Lloyd before issuing his initial solo recording, Rags, Reels & Airs, in 1967. After appearing as a guest fiddler on Fairport Convention's Unhalfbricking in 1969, Swarbrick joined as a permanent member for the following year's Liege & Lief. He remained a central figure in the band for nearly a decade, supplying electric fiddle, several original compositions, and lead vocals on numbers such as "Rosie." The group's amplified style, however, led to lasting hearing damage. Following his departure in 1979, Swarbrick turned his attention to acoustic music and, in the early 1980s, joined Fairport Convention guitarist and vocalist Simon Nicol for tours that produced Close to the White Bear in 1981 and Close to the Wind in 1984.
On April 6, 1991, Swarbrick marked his 50th birthday with a concert at Birmingham Town Hall that gathered numerous colleagues from earlier stages of his career. Beryl Marriott's Ceili Band opened the program, which also included sets by the Ian Campbell Folk Group, Martin Carthy, and Fairport Convention; selections from the event later appeared on the 1996 release Folk on 2. That same year Swarbrick issued two duo albums: Saturday Johnny & Jimmy the Rat with Glasgow-born guitarist Alistair Hulett, who had lived seventeen years in Australia, and Secrets, Vows and Lies with Australian guitarist Pete Hawes. He remained active in performance and recording through the new millennium until his death in June 2016 at the age of 75.
