Barry Dransfield

Known for his unique way of holding his fiddle across his chest rather than under his chin, allowing him to sing at the same time, Barry Dransfield has played a seminal role in the evolution of British folk music since the late '60s. He recorded several memorable albums with his brother, Robin, including Rout of the Blues, which was named Best Folk Album of 1970 by the British music magazine Melody Maker. He played with the Albion Band and was featured on the groundbreaking 1972 collection, Morris On. Dransfield was equally successful as a soloist. He composed the scores of films, including S.O.S. Titanic, and British television plays, including Play Away, Samson and Delilah, and Ballymena Opera House, and portrayed blind fiddler Michael Byrne in the Mel Gibson, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Anthony Hopkins-starring film The Saga of H.M.S. Bounty. His self-titled debut solo album remains a highly valued collector's item, voted Rarest Folk Album by Record Hunter magazine. Taught to play fiddle by friends who lived in the Irish community of Leeds, Dransfield performed in Yorkshire pubs before his 15th birthday. Together with his friends, he spent three years in a semi-professional New Lost City Ramblers-like bluegrass/old-timey trio, the Crimple Mountain Boys. Resigning from his harp-building job in 1969, Dransfield convinced his brother to leave a teaching career and join him in a full-time duo. Building a following with tradition-rooted performances at the Harrogate Folk Club, where they shared the stage with Martin Carthy, Ewan MacColl, and the Watersons, they continued to evolve. By 1971, they had expanded into a four-piece acoustic and electric folk band. Two years of nonstop work peaked with the release of two duo/band albums, Rout of the Blues and Lord of All I Behold, and...