Dave Pegg at Fairport's Cropredy Convention, 2005

Dave Pegg (born David Pegg, 2 November 1947 in Acocks Green, Birmingham, England) is a bassist/multi-instrumentalist. After playing guitar in school bands, he became a professional musician in the mid 1960s. He failed an audition as guitarist with The Uglys, a Birmingham-based rock band led by Steve Gibbons, but was offered the job of bassist.

Pegg also played double bass for a short while with Birmingham based folk ensemble, The Ian Campbell Folk Group. During this stint he met Birmingham fiddle-player Dave Swarbrick, who introduced Pegg to Fairport Convention in 1970. Ashley Hutchings, the band's founder and bassist, had left to form Steeleye Span and Pegg took over. Pegg's tenure with Fairport has been unbroken since then.

When Fairport first disbanded in 1979, Pegg joined the rock band Jethro Tull and he played with them for much of the 1980s. However, Fairport reformed as a full-time band in 1985 with Pegg still on bass. In 1987 Jethro Tull toured the U.S. with Fairport Convention as support act: Pegg played in both bands at each concert.

Pegg has released two solo albums: The Cocktail Cowboy Goes It Alone (1983) and Birthday Party (1998), both on Woodworm Records. Dave also plays mandolin and bouzouki. In 2007 he recorded "Galileo's Apology" as a duo with guitarist PJ Wright. PJ had been lead guitar with the Steve Gibbons Band. The album was a collection of pop and folk-rock songs and instrumentals.

Since 1979, Fairport has staged Cropredy Festival, a three-day music event in Oxfordshire. Until recently it was organised by Pegg and his former wife Christine: since their divorce, the band as a whole organises the festival, now called Fairport's Cropredy Convention.

Pegg now lives in Banbury, Oxfordshire. He has a daughter, Stephanie, who works as a PR consultant: his son, Matt Pegg, is a bassist who has played with, among others, Procol Harum and Francis Dunnery.

The Dylan Project

Starting in 1998, several musicians formed a Bob Dylan tribute band, touring annually in the autumn. They were Simon Nicol, PJ Wright, Steve Gibbons, Dave Pegg and Gerry Conway. So far they have released two albums.

External links

• Fairport Convention's website
• Biography at Jethro Tull official website
• The Dylan Project