Nic Jones

Nic Jones

Nic Jones is an English folk singer, fingerstyle guitarist and fiddle player from Orpington, United Kingdom. Born in 1947, he is associated with the 1970s English folk revival and is widely regarded as one of its most distinctive figures. His work centres on traditional folk material, with a reputation built not just on singing but on guitar playing and on his arrangements of older songs.

Early career

Jones develops an interest in music at school, first learning guitar there. His early influences include Ray Charles and The Shadows. His interest in folk music begins in 1964, when friends who have formed a folk band called the Halliard draw him into the scene. When the Halliard turn professional, he replaces one of the original members and learns fiddle, along with techniques for researching and arranging traditional material.

The Halliard split in 1968, after which Jones starts moving towards solo work. He first finds session work before his own recording career expands.

Recordings and collaborations

With the Halliard, Jones appears on It’s The Irish In Me and The Halliard and Jon Raven, both from 1967. He later joins Bandoggs, a group with Pete and Chris Coe and Tony Rose, and records Bandoggs in 1978. He also works as a session musician with Maddy Prior and June Tabor on Silly Sisters in 1976.

As a solo artist, he releases Ballads and Songs in 1970, Nic Jones in 1971, The Noah’s Ark Trap in 1977, From the Devil to a Stranger in 1978 and Penguin Eggs in 1980. Later releases include In Search of Nic Jones in 1998, Unearthed in 2001 and Game Set Match in 2006, which present remastered live material.

Style and significance

Jones’ guitar style is described as highly individual and widely imitated. He uses a plastic thumb pick rather than fingernails, plucking the strings in a way that creates a forceful, percussive effect. This becomes one of his signature sounds. His reputation rests heavily on this instrumental style and on the way he reshapes traditional songs.

His opening track on Penguin Eggs, “Canadee-I-O,” becomes especially noted as an example of his approach. The song is later recorded by Bob Dylan for Good as I Been to You. A dispute arises over the relationship between Dylan’s version and Jones’ arrangement, with differing views about similarity and credit.

In 2001, Penguin Eggs is voted the second best folk album of all time in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll.

Car accident and later appearances

Jones’ career is cut short in 1982 when he is seriously injured in a car accident after performing at Glossop Folk Club. He breaks many bones, suffers brain damage and spends eight months in hospital. He is left with co-ordination problems and can no longer play fiddle, while guitar playing and public performance become difficult.

After a long absence from the stage, he returns to live performance in 2010 at Sidmouth Folk Week, where he appears in a programme dedicated to his music and sings three songs with Bandoggs. He has been rehearsing at home in north Devon and later considers performing again.

Later life and legacy

Jones lives in York and continues to play guitar and write songs for his own pleasure. He also develops an interest in chess. His wife, Julia, establishes the Mollie Music label, which issues two albums of remastered live recordings from his early career. Topic later releases Game Set Match in 2006, another live compilation.

In 1999, John Wesley Harding releases a tribute album to Jones titled Trad Arr Jones. In 2012, Jones appears as a featured vocalist on Kate Rusby’s album 20, singing harmonies on “The Lark.”