From Psychedelia to Sonnets – a life in words and music – the remarkable journey of Ashley Hutchings. For this new show Ashley is joined by talented singers/multi-instrumentalists Ruth Angell and Becky Mills who will accompany his music on guitar, violin and harmonium.
“Ashley Hutchings is the single most important figure in English folk-rock ” – Bob Dylan (August, 2015).
Ashley Hutchings is the founder of Fairport Convention and other successful folk-rock bands including Steeleye Span and The Albion Band (in all its many guises and reincarnations). In fact he is acknowledged as “The Guv’nor” in this form of music. He was also a music director at the National Theatre for a period of four years. What is less well known about Ashley is his talent as a wordsmith. In 2014 he published his first book, Words, Words,Words, a personal selection of his song lyrics, poetry and other writings that both span his career and tell his story.
An evening in Ashley’s company is an opportunity to listen to him read from the book, tell the stories behind the writings, add detail to the history of the bands he has created and describe some of the many projects he has brought to fruition, both musically and theatrically. Although the show features Ashley’s book there is of course plenty of music and songs in the performance.
