David Cyril Eric 'Dave' Swarbrick (born 5 April 1941 in New
Malden) is an English
folk
musician. He plays violin,
viola, mandolin, and guitar, and sings.
Biography
He grew up in Birmingham where he learnt the rudiments
of the violin
from a local fiddler and attended the Birmingham College of Art (now
absorbed into the Birmingham
Institute of Art and Design) in the late 1950s. Playing guitar, he
joined Beryl Marriot's Ceilidh Band in Birmingham. Beryl encouraged him
to take up the fiddle again.
Swarbrick joined the Ian Campbell Folk Group in
1960. In 1966
he teamed up with Martin Carthy and the
pairing had a significant influence in the contemporary folk music
scene. In 1969
he joined electric folk group Fairport
Convention. In 1973
he contributed mandolin
to Al
Stewart's "Past, Present, & Future" album.
In 1984
Swarbrick formed Whippersnapper, a group renowned for
its acoustic prowess. In 1989 he decided to leave to concentrate on solo
work and revive his partnership with Martin
Carthy.
In 1993
Swarbrick moved to Australia and met and began working with Alistair
Hulett. Returning to England in 1996, he started working with Kevin Dempsey, who is recently joined Uiscedwr.
There was considerable embarrassment for the Daily
Telegraph newspaper in 1999 when it published a
premature obituary for
Swarbrick after he was admitted to hospital with a chest infection.
After many years of steadily worsening health due to emphysema,
he was fortunate enough, in October 2004, to receive a double lung
transplant and has now been released from hospital and it is to be
hoped he is on the road to improved health and a better quality of life
after being confined to a wheelchair for some years.
In 2004 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award
at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
In 2006 Swarb started touring again with ex-Fairporter Maartin
Allcock and Kevin Dempsey as Swarb's Lazarus; they appeared
at the Cropredy Festival.
In 2007 Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick won the 'Best Duo'
Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards
Discography
This is a very limited list that omits much of Swarb's finest
work, not least his albums with Fairport Convention such as Liege and
Lief, and some of his collaborations with Martin Carthy.
Collaboration - Dave Swarbrick, Martin Carthy and Diz Disley
- Rags, Reels & Airs (1967)
- Swarbrick (1976)
- Swarbrick 2 (1977)
- Lift The Lid and Listen (1978)
- The Ceilidh Album (1978)
- Smiddyburn (1981)
- Flittin' (1983)
- In The Club (1983)
- Live At Jackson's Lane [1991] (1996)
- Folk on 2 [1991] (1996)
Dave Swarbrick & Simon Nicol
- Live at the White Bear (1981)
- Close to the Wind (1984)
- Close to the White Bear (1998)
Collaboration - Dave Swarbrick and Fairport Convention
Compilations
- Swarb [box set] (2003)
- English Fiddler (2003)
- It Suits Me Well (2004)
Dave Swarbrick and Alistair Hulett
- Saturday Johnny and Jimmy The Rat (1996)
- The Cold Grey Light of Dawn (1998)
- Red Clydeside (2002)
Swarb's Lazarus
External links
