Ashley Hutchings and Ken Nicol

Often referred to as the father of English folk-rock, Ashley Hutchings played an important role in sowing the genre's late-'60s origins and fostering its continued success in the decades to come. A founding member of three seminal groups, Hutchings instigated Fairport Convention's thrilling electrification of traditional English fare on their landmark 1969 LP Liege & Lief before leaving the band to form the equally significant Steeleye Span a year later. His subsequent marriage to another English folk pioneer, Shirley Collins, prompted the formation of the Albion Country Band ...