From the very beginning, Steeleye Span’s vision was always the presentation of traditional British folk song using electric instrumentation.
The final piece of their folk/rock jigsaw slotted into place in 1974 with the addition of drummer Nigel Pegrum and the breakthrough album that announced his arrival, Now We Are Six.
For the 2011 spring tour, Span have added two new members and are a six-piece line-up once more.
As a result, they have chosen to revisit the classic album, which will be performed in its entirety during the show, allowing fans to hear songs like Thomas the Rhymer, Edwin and Two Magicians once again, although I doubt that Beckenham boy David Bowie will turn up to play sax on Phil Spector’s To Know Him Is To Love Him as he did on the original.
With that electric folk backbeat in mind, I spoke to Liam Genockey, he of the colourful taqiyah cap and plaited beard, who took over the drum stool from Pegrum in 1989 and, barring a four-year hiatus, has been behind the Steeleye kit ever since.
A genial Dubliner, via Plymouth and Hastings, Liam is obviously a man happy in his work and he told me about the new line-up.
“Ken Nicol is no longer with us, so we’ve brought in one and a half new members really. Multi-instrumentalist Pete Zorn has been with us on and off for the last couple of years and a guitarist called Julian Littman, who I’ve known since the 70s, when we both worked with Gerry Rafferty.
"He’s fitting in well and the gigs have been fantastic. There’s a nice vibe in the band and of course, the vocals, which have always been a major feature, are just lovely because both he and Pete are such good singers.”
Aside from working with folk icons John Martyn and Paul Brady, Liam has played extensively with experimental jazz musicians such as Keith Tippett and Elton Dean.
I wondered if a jazz/rock background had helped him adapt more easily to the folk style.
“I have a bit of everything in my past. Because I’m self-taught, I learned to play rhythms before I learned to play drums. Banging on pots and pans when I was a kid.
"Back in Ireland we lived in a one up, one down terraced cottage and my mother would put me upstairs with pots and pans and a wooden spoon to keep me from under her feet and I would happily bash away all day.
"Even after we moved to Plymouth, I would come home from school and just knock knitting needles on whatever was hanging on the outhouse wall; not that I had any thoughts of becoming a drummer, I just loved hitting those rhythms.
"Consequently I played in pop bands and then met Trevor Watts in 1976 and got into free-form jazz, which was my favourite area I think, any sort of free-form music. Basically, if anyone asks me to play I can say yeah, let’s have a go; I just play what I feel is appropriate and if it isn’t, they soon tell me”
What approach do Steeleye take when arranging a traditional song for a rock rhythm section?
“It varies. For instance, when Maddy Prior first suggested we do Bonny Black Hare, she just started singing and I came up with a rhythm that I felt fitted the bill. Then everyone else joined in.
"Sometimes Peter Knight will come in with a new tune and he’ll have a specific idea of what he wants the rest of us to do. For the rock parts, Rick comes up with some great riffs, but more often than not, people will just throw in an idea and we all develop it from there.”
It is two years since Cogs, Wheels and Lovers, the last Steeleye studio album, was released and I asked if another recording was in the pipeline?
“Apparently, the author Terry Pratchett is a big fan and was influenced by some of the old songs that Steeleye recorded and he has given one or two of his books to Maddy and Rick so that they can write songs based around some of his characters.
"So that looks like the next project, but that’s the great thing about Steeleye, there’s always something interesting just around the corner.”
Steeleye Span, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon, April 5, 8pm, £17.50. Call 020 8688, 9291, fairfield.co.uk
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