Barry Dransfield

Barry Dransfield is an English folk singer, fiddler, cellist and guitarist. He has appeared as a session musician on numerous albums by other artists, and has released his own albums as well. Lord of All I Behold (1971) was voted Melody Maker folk album of the year. His 1972 album for Polydor, called simply Barry Dransfield, was voted the rarest folk album in Record Hunter, worth approximately £400. Unlike most fiddlers (but like some Appalachian players) he is comfortable playing in the "off the chest" position, instead of under the chin.

Together with his brother Robin Dransfield, he was a member of a bluegrass/old-time band while still in his teens. He generally avoids electric instruments, but is innovative nevertheless. The instrumental "Blacksmith", on Fiddler's Dream, is a complex set of variations in Romantic Paganini style, with no obvious relation to the song "Blacksmith", but ending with a double-tracked voice of Dransfield singing the opening line, "Oh, A Blacksmith Courted Me". Fiddler's Dream has been re-issued on Castle with many bonus tracks. He is 71.

In films

Dransfield has composed music for several films for TV and the wide screen: S.O.S. Titanic, Adelaide Harris, Play Away, Samson an Delilah (1985), Ballymena Opera House and The Wreck of the Julie Plante (1985). He acted the part of the blind fiddler in The Bounty (1984) (with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins). In 1986, he changed career to become a so-called "Fiddle Doctor", repairing violins and cellos. In 1994, he joined the Steeleye Span UK tour.

Discography

• Rout of the Blues (1970) (with Robin Dransfield)
• Lord of All I Behold (1971) (with Robin Dransfield)
• Morris On (1972) (with Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, John Kirkpatrick et al.)
• Barry Dransfield (1972)
• The Fiddler's Dream (1976) as a member of the band The Dransfields
• Popular to Contrary Belief (1977) (with Robin Dransfield)
• Bowin' and Scrapin' (1984)
• Be Your Own Man (1994)
• Troubadours of British Folk, Vol. 1 (1995) (anthology)
• Wings of a Sphinx (1996)
• Up To Now (1999) (compilation with rarities and unreleased tracks)
• Unruly (2005)

External links

• Barry Dransfield's Web Site
• Barry Dransfield at the Internet Movie Database