Nic Jones

All Music Guide:

Singer Nic Jones was among the most acclaimed artists to emerge from the British folk revival, winning praise for his moving vocals as well as his prowess on guitar and fiddle. Greatly influenced by Martin Carthy, whose percussive guitar style Jones adopted for his own, he first surfaced during the late '60s as a member of the group the Halliard, mounting a solo career in 1970 with his debut album, Ballads and Songs. A collection of traditional tunes distinguished by Jones' outstanding instrumental work, the record also established his mastery of the long ballad. A self-titled effort followed in 1971, but was his last album for six years; the follow-up, Noah's Ark Trap, finally appeared in 1977, with From the Devil a Stranger appearing a year later. Around that same time Jones also joined the short-lived group Bandoggs, releasing an eponymous LP in 1978. Other projects included appearances on albums from artists including Richard Thompson and June Tabor. Released in 1980, Penguin Eggs -- named Folk Album of the Year by Melody Maker -- was his final new recording; in 1982 he was critically injured in an auto accident and forced to retire from performing. In Search of Nic Jones -- a compilation of archival material including home recordings and BBC sessions -- was released in 1998. A year later, singer/songwriter John Wesley Harding issued Trad Arr Jones, a collection of traditional folk numbers directly inspired by Jones' arrangements.

Wikipedia:

Nicolas Paul "Nic" Jones (born 9 January 1947) is an English folk singer, fingerstyle guitarist and fiddle player whose professional career spanned the years 1964-1982. He recorded five solo albums, and was a frequent guest performer.

Biography[edit]

Nic Jones was born on 9 January 1947 in Orpington, Kent. He first learned to play guitar as a young teenager and early musical influences included such artists as The Shadows, Duane Eddy, Chet Atkins, Wes Montgomery and Ray Charles. His interest in folk music was aroused by an old school friend, Nigel Paterson, who was a member of a folk band called The Halliard. When the members of the group decided to turn professional, one of them left to pursue a different career and Nic was invited to take his place. Whilst playing with The Halliard, Jones learned to play the fiddle, and also how to research and arrange traditional material. The group toured the UK between 1964 and 1968, eventually splitting up when two of the members decided to pursue careers outside the folk music business.

In 1968 Jones married Julia Seymour and they eventually were to have three children together – Daniel (d), Helen and Joe. The couple settled in Chelmsford and Jones decided to pursue a career as a solo folk artist. He started playing professional gigs in 1969, and in 1970 released his first album, Ballads and Songs for Trailer Records. Between 1971 and 1980 Jones recorded four more solo albums - three more for Trailer Records and his last, "Penguin Eggs", for Topic. Apart from Jones' trademark vocals, fingerstyle guitar and fiddle, the records also introduced guest instrumentalists playing piano, harmonium, bodhran, melodeon and recorders.

During his career, Jones was much in demand as a session musician and he guested on albums by leading UK artists such as June Tabor, Shirley Collins, Barbara Dickson, Richard Thompson and many others. He was also a member of short-lived folk group "Bandoggs", comprising Jones, Tony Rose, Peter Coe and Chris Coe, and which released one album in 1978.

On 28 February 1982 Jones was involved in a serious road traffic accident. Returning home by car after a gig at Glossop Folk Club, on the road between Peterborough and March in Cambridgeshire, Jones, tired, inadvertently drove into a lorry pulling out of Whittlesea brickworks. He suffered serious injuries, including many broken bones and brain damage, and required intensive care treatment and hospitalisation for a total of eight months. His injuries left him with permanent physical coordination problems, unable to play the guitar as well as before, and no longer able to play the fiddle at all. The accident effectively ended his career as a touring and recording professional musician.

Jones now lives in Devon and continues to play guitar and write songs for his own pleasure and enjoys playing chess. His wife Julia set up the record label Mollie Music which has issued four albums of re-mastered live recordings from Jones's early career.

On 5 August 2010, after an absence of 28 years, Jones made a return to the stage. He appeared at an event dedicated to his music at Sidmouth Folk Week. Jones sang three songs with one of his former bands Bandoggs and commented that he would "consider performing again – but wanted to sing his own songs." In 2012 Nic Jones (with musicians Joseph Jones - Nic's son - and Belinda O'Hooley) performed his first solo concerts for 30 years at the Warwick, Cambridge, Wadebridge and Towersey folk festivals. On 22 September 2012, Nic Jones was presented with The Gold Badge of the English Folk Dance & Song Society at a special concert at Cecil Sharp House, London. It is the highest honour the E.F.D.S.S. can confer on a musician. On 30 January 2013 Jones was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. On 23 August 2013 the Nic Jones Trio (comprising Nic, Joseph Jones and Belinda O'Hooley) performed on the opening night of that year's Shrewsbury Folk Festival, in the course of which it was announced from the stage that it was to be their final performance.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

Guitar style[edit]

Jones developed an intricate, rhythmically-complex fingerpicking and strumming guitar style. He started off playing in standard guitar tuning (EADGBE) but then gravitated towards a variety of open tunings after hearing the recordings of Martin Carthy, whom he acknowledges as an important influence. These included tunings such as the well-known DADGAD, but also variants of C and G major/minor/modal tunings heard on such tracks as "Canada-I-O" and "Billy Don't Weep For Me". Jones was also influenced by classical and flamenco guitar playing.

He played a Fylde Orsino acoustic guitar with a plastic thumb pick and "bare" fingers. Jones plucked the strings with some force causing the strings to lift up and rebound against the fingerboard - accounting for the "spitting", slapping sound characteristic of Jones' guitar accompaniments. Another important feature was a regular percussive sound made by striking downwards with the middle and ring fingers of the right hand on damped bass strings close to or above the bridge of the guitar. This is akin to the technique used by banjo players called frailing. This can be heard to good effect on such Jones tracks as "Ten Thousand miles" (on The Noah's Ark Trap, 1977) and "Master Kilby" (on From the Devil to a Stranger, 1978). Jones also skillfully used selective string damping to achieve other percussive effects such as on "Billy Don't Weep For Me" (on From the Devil to a Stranger).

A feature of his later, mature guitar style is the introduction of subtle counterpoint lines that complement the lead vocals. This can be heard on such songs as "Miles Weatherhill", "The Golden Glove", "Courting is a pleasure" and others.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).