Nic Jones

From The Halliard to the solo albums

Nicolas Paul Jones was born on January 9, 1947 in Orpington, Kent, grew up in Brentwood, Essex and went to Brentwood School. He took guitar after the Shadows' Hank Marvin, Duane Eddy and Chet Atkins, with Wes Montgomery and Ray Charles also named as influences. In 1964 he joined The Halliard through a schoolfriend, Nigel Paterson, learned the fiddle and arranging, and stayed until the group split in 1968. He began playing professionally as a soloist in 1969, and heard Martin Carthy, after which he used open tunings, DADGAD and several others; he played an Epiphone and later a Fylde Oberon and Orsino, with a plastic thumb pick, percussive strikes on the bass strings and, later, counterpoint lines to his voice.

On Trailer he made Ballads and Songs (1970), Nic Jones (1971), The Noah's Ark Trap (1977) and From the Devil to a Stranger (1978); with Jon Raven and Tony Rose he made Songs of a Changing World (1973), and he sang on Silly Sisters (1976) with Maddy Prior and June Tabor. Bandoggs, with Tony Rose and Pete and Chris Coe, followed in 1978. Penguin Eggs came out on Topic in June 1980, recorded at Livingston Recording Studios in late 1979 and produced by Tony Engle; it reached 71 in the UK and was named album of the year by Melody Maker and Folk Roots. AllMusic's Bruce Eder called it a magnum opus; it was second in a 2001 BBC Radio 2 poll of the best folk album, behind Liege and Lief. Kate Rusby calls it her favorite album and Peter Case one of the finest acoustic albums.

Silence and return

He stopped performing after February 1982. His wife Julia set up Mollie Music, which issues his archive, including In Search of Nic Jones (1998), Unearthed (2001) and Game Set Match (2006). He returned to the stage on August 5, 2010 at Sidmouth Folk Week with three songs with Bandoggs, after 28 years, played his first solo concerts in 30 years in 2012 with his son Joseph Jones and Belinda O'Hooley, and the Nic Jones Trio opened Shrewsbury Folk Festival on August 23, 2013, announced as the last performance. He received the EFDSS Gold Badge on September 22, 2012 and was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards on January 30, 2013. John Wesley Harding's tribute album Trad Arr Jones (1999) contains a version of "Annachie Gordon".