John Kirkpatrick
b. 8 August 1947, Chiswick, London, England. Kirkpatrick is often held to be the master player of the accordion, melodeon and the concertina. Having spent some time in the early Steeleye Span line-up, he went on to be involved with folk-rock recordings of the '70s. He has toured and recorded with a veritable who's who of the folk-rock establishment, in particular Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson and Martin Carthy. Kirkpatrick also performed with Brass Monkey. A REALLY HIGH CLASS BANDincluded The Cherry Tree Carol and Sir John Betjeman's A Shropshire Lad. Kirkpatrick regularly records and performs with Sue Harris (b. 17 May 1949, Coventry, Warwickshire, England), who is known for her hammer dulcimer and oboe playing. They first started working together in 1971. Harris was, for a time, a member of the English Country Blues Band, and has contributed incidental music for television, theatre and radio, including THE CANTERBURY TALESON BBC Radio 4. Kirkpatrick, Harris and Carthy were in one of the early line-ups of the Albion Band. Kirkpatrick also played on NIGHT OWLBY Gerry Rafferty in 1979, and, in 1988, on Pere Ubu's THE TENEMENT YEAR.By complete contrast, and highlighting Kirkpatrick's wide diversity, he also formed the Shropshire Bedlams Morris Dance team. In recent years, Kirkpatrick has toured as a trio with the two fine melodeon players Riccardo Tesi from Italy and Marc Perrone from France. Harris and Kirkpatrick also performed and recorded with Umps And Dumps, which included Derek Pearce (percussion), Tufty Swift (melodeon) and Alan Harris (banjo). Other commitments, such as performing with the Richard Thompson Band and his involvement with the National Theatre production of LARK RISE TO CANDLEFORDhave reduced Kirkpatrick's solo touring. In 1991, he presented a six-week radio series for the BBC, SQUEEZING AROUND THE WORLD, which featured many of the world's leading squeezebox players. Harris and Kirkpatrick have now started working, as a trio with Dave Whetstone (melodeon/guitar).