Day 1 of Fairport’s Cropredy Convention 2025 – the sun is out and the sell out crowd is assembled ready to assess how the new-ish look festival will fare.

The festival programme calls it ‘down-sized (right-sized)’ which sums things up nicely. The general feel is that nothing much has changed. There may be no side screens, but a screen behind the stage suggest we focus more directly, but there’s more room, shorter/no queues and any suggestion that the quality of the bill might have been compromised is soon put to bed.

FAIRPORT ACOUSTIC

So – as promised – it all came round again. Fairport’s Cropredy Convention might be a reduced-scale affair this year but, to tell you the truth, once we were assembled in our favourite field, it all felt reassuringly familiar. And, right on cue, at 4pm on Thursday 7th August, 2025, the bells of St Mary’s Church struck up – and so did Fairport Acoustic. We’re off!!

The crowd showed that they were SO up for it, as they delivered an almighty “JACK” for the one-word chorus of Festival Bell – a response that seemed to visibly levitate the Fairport chaps from their chairs.

”The joy on Ric’s face is a delight!” said the lady next to me, as the band launched into Walk Awhile, a song that’s currently taking a sabbatical from Fairport’s full-blown set. And, to emphasise the pared-back nature of this Fairport incarnation, Peggy (complete with ATB Crop ’25 badge displayed on his hat for the full weekend) played his bass ukulele, whilst DM bashed along on a hand-drum, hi-hat and the indispensable cowbell. And, you know what? It sounded wonderful!

ADDERBURY ROOTS

Chris led the crowd in a lusty rendition of “Happy Birthday” – directed at birthday girl Michelle Plum – of whom we’ll hearing more from shortly – before signalling a return to his Adderbury roots for the next song…The Happy Man – dedicated to Chris’s grandson, young Taylor Leslie – was an inspired choice of song, given the happy mood in the field, and the happiness dial was about to be turned right up. And not just to 11.

The structural specialists amongst the stage crew will have been crossing all their digits at once, as Fairport were joined on stage by the 40+ members of Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble for spectacular, breathtaking, version of The Lark Medley. The sheer joy that emanated from that stage was almost crushing in its intensity and I’m sure that I wasn’t alone in having to wipe a tear of pleasure from my eye as the massed ranks surged through a favourite tune.

WHAT a way to start a festival!

(Check out the Lark here!)

JOE BROUGHTON’S CONSERVATOIRE FOLK ENSEMBLE

The future of folk is in safe hands. Joe Broughton and mighty ensemble of accomplished young musicians left us all in no doubt on that score.

Their massed ranks had invaded the Cropredy stage for Fairport Acoustic’s final number, and they stayed. They were bouncing with enthusiasm and they couldn’t wait to get going. Joe himself stood front and centre – just about – and he was surrounded by musicians of every hue; brass, woodwind, bass, guitar, accordion and LOTS of strings. The ensemble even features a crazed Bez-like dancer. And this lot are WILD. In a very disciplined kind of way, of course.

When JB’s CFE sway and stamp, as they did to introduce opening tune, Kenny, you know about it. And the crowd responded in kind, clapping along joyfully. You can only be witness to a spectacle like this one at Cropredy!

ARE YOU THE KIND OF PEOPLE THAT LIKE TO JOIN IN WITH THINGS?!

”Are you the kind of people that like to join in with things?” Asked Joe, as he attempted to turn the Cropredy crowd into a Bulgarian Clapping Orchestra. He succeeded, too – the enthusiasm for participation was palpable – as the band made a huge Balkan-flavoured noise and swayed as they played, as though they were passengers on an out-of-control sailing ship.

There was a gentle start to the Scottish lament that followed, but the sound built magnificently, to a stirring military rhythm. And so it went on, through a rousing version of the shanty, Haul Away Joe – sung by the entire ensemble and joined lustily by what seemed like the entire field.

”This is the 28th year of this ensemble,” said Joe. “We don’t have many original members in the lineup, but there have been 1,107 of them – nearly as many as The Albion Band!”

The jazzy, Latin-tinged, Legacy was followed by Isaac, a medley of spirituals that morphed into a New Orleans jazz boogie that went off like a fizzing firework – and the crowd loved it. Eastern influences were merged with raucous blues, before we were suddenly faced by another burst of The Lark. This was where we came in, wasn’t it?

And Joe and his gang weren’t finished yet…. The smiles were broader and the energy levels even higher as they surged through The Butterfly and Codo, before they crossed the finish line with the ground-shaking Fidel Castro’s Return to Galway. Joe was joined, centre-stage by his fiddle-playing daughter on a tune dedicated to Cropredy – and to the great Dave Swarbrick.

Yes, the future of folk is in very safe hands.

ROSALIE CUNNINGHAM

Playing Cropredy under a baking sun for Rosalie Cunningham seems to be becoming the hugely preferable alternative to one of Richard Thompson’s rain embellished appearances. With both Rosalie and Claudia González Diaz sporting fringe trimmed catsuits with much mane tossing in evidence – some might suggest a nod to Ozzy and the cover of Vol.4 – the fashion bar is set high. As is the musical one.

A set that’s loud and proud; hard rock with a dash of retro psychedelia and the sort of progressive elements from her DNA that endear her to the Prog crowd, it’s the first time we’ve had chance to hear the songs from To Shoot Another Day played live. It’s on heavy rotation with the cinematic jabs of the title track, Timothy Martin’s Conditioning School and Heavy Pencil paving the way for a brain shaking Spook Racket. It highlights what Rosalie does best, settling into a hefty groove before taking unexpected sharp twists and turns. Point in turn, Rosco Wilson and Rosalie pair up to crank out a monster riff before a shimmer of keyboard sees them dropping into a more atmospheric section.

ROSCO’S RABBIT FOOT

The chill out takes a brief hold. Home picks up the baton as the mood makes for a chance to take breath. It offers the jaunty sway of a late night cabaret vibe that again shifts gear for Rosco’s Rabbit Foot spotlight (watch out for our chat with Rosalie and Rosco on their next project…). The stonker of a riff gets paired with a keyboard break and with Rosalie and Claudia on bvs, he’s well justified (although doesn’t) in using Rosalie’s “What a band!” phrase that she acknowledges after Duet.

The vibe shifts again as Tristitia Amnesia combines winding Eastern Promise with smartly observed tuneage and melody. Cropredy becomes the place to be as the finale treats us to something special. The ‘Donny’ trilogy’ is played out for the first time as onto the stage steps Ric Sanders and the “what a band!” pride raises the bar. He’s not a bad guest to bring to the party as he helps take Rosalie and the gang to another level. A cock of the head, a nod or a wink of the eye and he’ s right on board. Return Of The Ellington (bonus track on the CD if you don’t have the single) is simply fabulous with a terrific organ/fiddle trade off.

Straight onto the rostum as a 2025 highlight, Rosalie Cunningham – with Ric in tow – could (should?) become a Cropredy institution.

ALBERT LEE

Quality oozes out of the nimble fingers of Albert Lee from the early notes of his set. Beginning with Set Me Up, his rockabilly brand of rock ‘n’ roll guitar is a masterclass on how to play. He rhymes off his associations with legendary musicians like The Everly’s, Ray Charles, Jimmy Webb and Glen Campbell with modesty.

Lee doesn’t play with a style that makes one think he could be phased, but his premature inclusion in Emmylou Harris’ band after legend James Burton’s sudden departure was a moment of consternation. As a result his versions of John Stewart, Rodney Crowell and Jim Webb songs are sensitively performed with his own immaculate guitar work.

A version of the Highway Man showed that he is equally adept on keyboards. As is his son, Wayne, who pays tribute to Gary Brooker with a soulful Whiter Shade Of Pale. Nearly an hour passes before his most famous song, Country Boy (covered by many a star), makes an appearance.

Wayne returns for his traditional closing number Tear It Up, which gave him and his regular band keyboard player a solo opportunity. Some wonderful rolling bass from Iain Petria, whose brother Ali on keyboards and Ollie Sears on drums made up a tight supporting unit.

PEATBOG FAERIES

“Thursday night is party night” might not have much of a ring about it, but nobody had told that to the Peatbogs, who had come to blow the night apart with their torrid mix of beats, bounce and bagpipes. Having played a Saturday afternoon here a decade or so back, this closing slot made far better sense for Peter Morrison and his accomplished team of reivers. As the electronic throb of the Jesster swelled up, and with the stage bathed in deep red glow, up went the roar as all seven members became visible. That roar then doubled, trebled, as the focus switched from the sawing of fiddles to the clear peal of the pipes, cutting through the dense layers of arrangement built into the band’s sonic. This is the Peatbog sound and the roar the Peatbog effect!

From our review of latest album, I See A World, we knew they had been adding more wedges of programming and percussive FX to their ceilidh, this certainly present tonight, but more astonishing were the further sly progressions demonstrated here above that. True, Morrison’s pipes and the fiddle of Ross Couper are always going to draw most attention, along with the township jive of guitarist, Tom Salter, but it is the newer blood that have actually added even more pepper to the pudding.

Latest recruit, Innes Walker, there, I thought, as a second guitar to add extra propulsive ballast, little realising that his fiddle play was just as important, and mavbe even more so. Is there anything more joyous than two fiddlers playing simultaneously, both together and against each other? I think not, and this dual fiddle sparring transformed any of the old favourites drawn out for tonight, let alone the new ones.

MORE THAN PIPES AND FIDDLE

Likewise, whilst keyboard man, Stu Brown, starts the set mainly behind his bank of keyboards, as time went on, so more and more he switched to saxophone, his almost freeform honking a vivid contrast to both the trad and techno that underpin the Faerie M.O. A wonderful sight and a wonderful sound, he offers further proof this band just never stops evolving. They are certainly much much more than the pipes and fiddle ensemble they may have begun as. Having said, when that is what you need, they have that in spades. Peter Morrison remains as distinctive a piper as any of the many who now feature in the welter of Scottish bands performing these days, it being hard to remember when he was one of the first, and possibly the first to fully explore the merits of neo-trad fusion. His whistle playing is also pretty damn good.

With a set drawn largely from the new record, it was only as some oldies crept into the set that the integral role of Salter came in. His Jo’burg style jittery guitar is a rightly celebrated feature of the band, and, once that blue touch paper lit, he was on buoyant fire, bobbing up and down like a behatted jack in the box. Relaxing into the response of the crowd, so the tunes kept coming.

CHANGING STYLES

Vocals have never played that much part for them, but that too is changing, as Couper led the crowd into what might more be called vocalese, sounds rather than words. Fast becoming the frontman of the band, his asides and introductions kept all smiling, as Morrison maintained the harder job of straight man. Mention must also be made for the solid anchor of Innes Hutton, whose bass play made sure that the liquid flights of fancy, emanating from his bandmates, never lost sight his pulse, aided and abetted by the mighty thump of Stuart Brown. Doof doof with swing and roll!

It can sometimes difficult to catch all the song names for a largely instrumental band, but highpoint in the show included a gorgeously extended Humours Of Ardnamurchan and closer, Folk Police, from way back when. Easier to remember those goosebump moments, such as when Walker, this time on acoustic guitar, traded solos with Salter, or when Brown came right up to the front, between the two fiddles of Walker and Couper, the three parping and bowing with vivid glee and polished precision. A lovely, lovely show and something to treasure in the packed hamper of Cropredy’s treasured memories.

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