Christopher Julian Leslie (born 15 December 1956) is a

British folk rock British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the ...

musician. He joined

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

in 1997.

Early years

Leslie grew up in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. His brother John steered him toward

The Watersons The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous fam ...

' ''Frost and Fire'',

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...

, and

The Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne continued ...

. In 1969 he began to teach himself

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

and modelled himself on the fiddle-playing of Dave Swarbrick of

, Peter Knight of

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

, and

Barry Dransfield Barry Dransfield (born 1947 in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire), 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 we ...

. Leslie made his first recording at the age of 16, with a Banbury-based folk rock band and then went on to forge a successful career around the folk clubs with his brother John - cutting their first album, ''The Ship of Time'' in 1976. During this period he was also the fiddle player for The Hookey Band and a member of the morris dancers at Adderbury. It was around this time that he first came to the attention of Fairport's

Dave Pegg Dave Pegg (born 2 November 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk ...

. From 1981-1983 Chris Leslie studied violin making, under the watchful eye of maker Patrick Jowett, at the Newark School of Violin Making in Nottinghamshire, England. He currently plays the second fiddle he made at Newark on stage.

Session work

Since then he has worked with

Whippersnapper Whippersnapper or whipper snapper is a young, impertinent and irritatingly overconfident person. It may also refer to: *Whippersnapper (band), an English folk group *"Whipper Snapper", a song by LaVern Baker *Whipper-snapper, another name for Stu ...

, the

Albion Band The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the m ...

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...

Simon Mayor Simon Mayor (born 1953) is an English mandolinist, fiddle player, guitarist, composer and humorist. He is noted for a series of instrumental albums featuring the mandolin, live performances with his partner Hilary James and his groups The Mandoli ...

and Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull). In 1981 he contributed to a cassette tape produced by

CND The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

. It was called ''Demo Tape'' and had limited distribution. Also on the tape were songs by Fairport Convention. In 1983 he contributed to ''More Demo Tapes'', again a cassette for CND. He accompanied Steve Ashley on the song "Down By the Embankment" on the album ''All Through the Year'' (1991). This was a compilation of original tracks. He appeared on ''People on the Highway'' (

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...

tribute album, 2000). There were other appearances on Steve Ashley albums (see discography). In 2003, Chris played violin on several tracks from

Mostly Autumn Mostly Autumn are an English rock band. The group formed in 1995 and have built their reputation through constant touring, never signing to a major label. They produce music heavily influenced by 1970s progressive rock. According to the BBC, M ...

's album ''Passengers''. In late 2007 he recorded violin and mandolin parts on Dan Crisp's debut album ''Far From Here''.

With Fairport and solo albums

In 1997 he joined Fairport Convention as singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has recorded five solo albums - ''The Flow'', ''The Gift'', ''Dancing Days'', ''Origins'', ''Turquoise Tales'' and ''Fiddle Back''. At first sight ''Dancing Days'' appears to be a Fairport Convention album, as it features

Simon Nicol Simon John Breckenridge Nicol (born 13 October 1950) is an English guitarist, singer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He was a founding member of British folk rock group Fairport Convention and is the only founding member still in the ...

Ashley Hutchings Ashley Stephen Hutchings, MBE, sometimes known in early years by his nickname, "Tyger" Hutchings (born 26 January 1945) is an English bassist, vocalist, songwriter, arranger, band leader, writer and record producer. He was a founding member of t ...

and

Ric Sanders Richard Sanders (born 8 December 1952) is an English violinist who has played in jazz-rock, folk rock, British folk rock and folk groups, including Soft Machine and Fairport Convention. Biography Sanders' first experience with a professional ...

. However, each of these artists appears only in a sequence of duos with Leslie. He has also recorded collaborations with Ashley Hutchings including ''Grandson of Morris On'' . Chris also takes part in an annual Christmas tour with St Agnes Fountain and also takes part in "A Feast of Fiddles" - a collaboration with Peter Knight, Tom Leary (The Hookey Band), Ian Cutler,

Phil Beer Phil Beer (born 12 May 1953 in Exminster, Devon, England) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and one half of English acoustic roots duo Show of Hands. Biography Beer first began to play fiddle, guitar, and mandolin whils ...

(

Show of Hands Show of Hands is an English acoustic roots/folk duo formed in 1986 by singer-songwriter Steve Knightley (guitars, mandolin, mandocello, cuatro) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Phil Beer (vocals, guitars, violin, viola, mandolin, mandoc ...

) and

Brian McNeill Brian McNeill (born 6 April 1950, Falkirk, Scotland) is a Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and musical director. He was a founding member of Battlefield Band which combined traditional Celtic melodies and new m ...

(

The Battlefield Band Battlefield Band were a Scottish traditional music group. Founded in Glasgow in 1969, they have released over 30 albums and undergone many changes of lineup. As of 2010, none of the original founders remain in the band. The band is noted for t ...

Personal life

He is Buddhist, a vegetarian, and a teetotaler.

Discography

Solo

* 1994 - ''The Gift'' * 1997 - ''

The Flow ''The Flow'' is an album by Chris Leslie released in 1997. This album is mostly instrumental. Although Chris Leslie is best known for his fiddle playing in Fairport Convention, these cuts sound nothing like Fairport or any of his other prior ...

'' * 2004 - ''

Dancing Days "Dancing Days" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It appears on their 1973 album, ''Houses of the Holy'', and was released as a single in the US. It was recorded at Stargroves, England in 1972. It was inspired by an Indian tune tha ...

'' * 2013 - ''Origins'' * 2015 - ''Turquoise Tales'' * 2020 - ''Fiddle Back''

In groups

* 1985 - Whippersnapper: ''Promises'' * 1987 - Whippersnapper: ''Tsubo'' * 1988 - Whippersnapper: ''These Foolish Strings'' * 1990 - Whippersnapper: ''Fortune'' * 1991 - Whippersnapper: ''Stories'' * 1996 - The Albion Band: ''Demi Paradise'' * 1997 - Fairport Convention: ''

Who Knows Where the Time Goes? "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" is a song written by the English folk-rock singer and songwriter Sandy Denny. Denny originally recorded the song as a demo in 1967, singing and playing guitar on the track. Later that year, she briefly joined the ...

'' * 1999 - Fairport Convention: '' The Wood and the Wire'' * 2001 - St Agnes Fountain: ''Acoustic Carols for Christmas'' * 2001 - Fairport Convention: ''

XXXV 35 or XXXV may refer to: * 35 (number), the natural number following 34 and preceding 36 * one of the years 35 BC, AD 35, 1935, 2035 * ''XXXV'' (album), a 2002 album by Fairport Convention * ''35xxxv'', a 2015 album by One Ok Rock * "35" (song), ...

'' * 2002 - Morris On Band: '' Grandson of Morris On'' * 2002 - St Agnes Fountain: ''Comfort and Joy'' * 2004 - Feast of Fiddles: ''Nicely Wrong'' * 2004 - Fairport Convention: ''

Over the Next Hill ''Over the Next Hill'' is the twenty-third studio album by the band Fairport Convention, released in 2004. Reception ''Over the Next Hill'' has been described by Mojo as "simply airport'sbest album in 25 years". Recording The album was recorde ...

'' * 2006 - St Agnes Fountain: ''The White Xmas Album'' * 2007 - Fairport Convention: ''

Sense of Occasion ''Sense of Occasion'' is the twenty-fourth studio album by British folk-rock veterans Fairport Convention, released in February 2007. Overview The title comes from the fact that 2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the band (although only one mem ...

'' * 2008 - St Agnes Fountain: ''Soal Cake'' * 2010 - Feast of Fiddles: ''Walk Before You Fly'' * 2010 - St Agnes Fountain: ''Spirit of Christmas'' * 2011 - Fairport Convention: ''

Festival Bell ''Festival Bell'' is the twenty-fifth studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2011. Overview The name of the album (as well as the cover and the title track) is a reference to the bell of the same name t ...

'' * 2012 - Fairport Convention: '' By Popular Request'' * 2012 - St Agnes Fountain: ''Twelve Years of Christmas'' * 2013 - Feast of Fiddles: ''Rise Above It'' * 2014 - St Agnes Fountain: ''Christmas is Not Far Away'' * 2015 - Fairport Convention: ''

Myths and Heroes ''Myths and Heroes'' is the twenty-seventh studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2015. Recording and release Recording for the album began in March 2014 and concluded in November. During their winter tou ...

'' * 2017 - Fairport Convention: '' 50:50@50'' * 2017 - Feast of Fiddles: ''Sleight of Elbow'' * 2017 - St Agnes Fountain: ''25/12'' * 2020 - Fairport Convention: ''

Shuffle and Go ''Shuffle and Go'' is the twenty-ninth studio album by British folk rock band Fairport Convention, released in January 2020. It was their last to feature drummer Gerry Conway who left the group in 2022. Recording and release Recording for the a ...

'' * 2021 - St Agnes Fountain: ''Night of a Million Stars''

Appearances with Steve Ashley

*1999 - ''The Test of Time'' *2001 - ''Everyday Lives'' *2006 - ''Live in Concert''

References

External links

The Hookey Band
*, including two written and performed by Chris Leslie
Website
of

Chris Leslie on CND tapes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie, Chris 1956 births Living people People from Banbury English folk musicians English fiddlers British male violinists Fairport Convention members British folk rock musicians 21st-century violinists 21st-century British male musicians The Albion Band members Whippersnapper (band) members