Swarbricks Lazarus
Saturday afternoon.
Dave Swarbrick was born in London in April 1941, moved to Yorkshire when only three months old and then to Birmingham at the age of eight. By that time he had already learned the rudiments of the fiddle but it was Beryl Marriott who persuaded him to continue with the instrument.
By his early twenties Dave had toured and recorded extensively. Amongst the huge back catalogue from that time are three Radio Ballads with Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker. Dave's lifelong passion for folk music was born in those busy years.
Besides Beryl and Roger Marriott, Dave met, worked and recorded with A .L. Lloyd, Alf Edwards and, of course, Ian Campbell. Dave joined the Ian Campbell Folk Group in the early 60's and in 1966 he teamed up with Martin Carthy.
This remarkable pairing played an important part in the tremendous shake up given to British folk music in the middle to late 60's. When they parted in 1969 Dave joined Fairport Convention and his contribution to folk and folk/rock music is legendary and well documented.
In 1984 Dave left Fairport and, along with Kevin Dempsey, Chris Leslie and Martin Jenkins, formed Whippersnapper, a group renowned for its drive and acoustic prowess. In 1989 Dave decided to leave to concentrate on solo work and revive his partnership with Martin Carthy.
In the early 90s Dave and Martin were members of the folk "supergroup" Band of Hope along with such luminaries as Roy Bailey, John Kirkpatrick, Chris Parkinson and Steafan Hannigan.
In 1993 Dave moved to Australia where he met and began working with Alistair Hulett. So far their partnership has produced three highly acclaimed CDs. Dave returned to England in 1996. He and Kevin Dempsey started making music together shortly afterwards.
While touring Europe with Kevin in 1999, Dave became seriously ill and for the next six years battled against emphysema. His double lung transplant operation in October 2004 has meant a return to form and a renewed zest to be out there playing music again.
Swarb received the highest award from the English Folk Dance and Song Society, the Gold Badge, in 2002 and the Gold Badge of Merit from the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, again their highest accolade, in 2003. In 2004 Swarb received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the annual BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and in 2006 Fairport Convention received an award for "Liege And Lief", the most influential album of all time, voted for by the listeners.
2007 BBC awards saw dave win
BEST DUO – MARTIN CARTHY & DAVE SWARBRICK
Swarb lives in Coventry with his artist wife Jill Banks and Millie the dog.
