Fairport Convention play Worthing’s Connaught Theatre on February 9 and Southampton’s Turner Sims on February 27 as they mark their 58th year.
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00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. One of the
00:07great pleasures of the job is to talk Fairport Convention occasionally, and lovely to speak
00:11today to Fairport Conventions. Chris Leslie, Fairport Convention are on the road, where
00:17else would they be? And heading to lots of places, including Worthing. Now this is 58
00:22years for the band. That's astonishing, isn't it? How do you get your head around that?
00:26You've done 28 of those 58, haven't you? Yeah, I'm still the new boy, as they say, in the
00:34band. But it's fantastic. I feel very privileged as a musician to have become part of something
00:43that is, in its own world, kind of a venerated institution in terms of its history, the musicians
00:52that have appeared in the band along all those years, the quality of the music that's
00:57come out from the very beginning of the band, from those early days of Fairport Convention
01:03in the late 60s. It's just great that it's still on the road. Is it the band's own momentum?
01:13What is it that keeps you on the road? I think it's the fortune of a band like Fairport
01:23to have such a loyal audience. The audience is the thing that is the other half of the
01:33equation. We have a fantastic audience. And with the band's history in London in 1967,
01:44along to people who have brought their neighbours along for the current tour. And I think that's
01:49a very, very lucky thing. Deserved, I have to say, from the input of the band before
01:56my time. But cultivating, having an attitude to audience, I think that's, our audience
02:06is fantastic. So willingness of us and a great audience. And also key to keeping going, keeping
02:12fresh, as you're saying, that it's always important to have a current repertoire for
02:15the current members, isn't it? It is. I think it allows all the input of what's possible in
02:29the band to be in an evening's music. So it's never hanging on to looking backwards. The reason
02:38we do past repertoire in the current evening's concerts is because it's great music. And it will
02:45obviously be a revisit for lots of people in the audience, because they'll remember when we first
02:52heard that with the band, wherever they were. It can take you back to places, as well as being in
03:00the current and being happy hearing what's going on now. Absolutely. All of which puts the band in
03:05a very robust, healthy situation. And it means that you can probably start thinking about that
03:1060th in a couple of years' time, can't you? Well, it's looming, isn't it? It's over the horizon. And
03:19as time goes these days, certainly I speak for myself, you know, it's like it will be in the
03:25snap of fingers. We will be there. And it will be a joyous year to celebrate, because I think it's,
03:32on any level, in any creative pursuit, I think a 60-year celebration is a thing of loveliness.
03:41Absolutely. And you look at the Stones in their 60th anniversary, they were better than ever,
03:46and the same will be the case for you, I'm sure. Yeah, you know, just briefly this morning,
03:52I was listening to Desert Island Discs on the radio. And it was Luz talking, very interesting
04:04person to listen to. But what really came across to me instantly was, she's 78 now, and she's still
04:11completely open for life. You know, the way she spoke about life, the way she obviously sees
04:18things, it's an openness and a willingness to engage in the joy of being alive. That's great.
04:24It's a wonderful thing to have. Well, Chris, really lovely to speak to you,
04:28and hope we get to speak during that 60th when it comes. Thank you.
04:33Yeah, fantastic. Thank you very much, Phil.