Nigel John Pegrum (born 22 January 1949) is a

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

and former

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

, most known for playing on many albums by

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 ...

Biography

Nigel Pegrum played drums with an early line-up of the

Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The band w ...

, then with Lee Grant And The Capitols before joining

Spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

, who subsequently changed their name to Uriah Heep and replaced him with a drummer who had a heavier style of playing, but not before recording the "Lansdowne Tapes". These sessions have since been released under the Uriah Heep name, and feature Pegrum on drums on some tracks. He then joined the art-rock/prog-rock band

Gnidrolog Gnidrolog was a British progressive rock band. Gnidrolog at Allmusic/ref> History The band was founded in 1969 by twin brothers Colin and Stewart Goldring, who were joined by drummer Nigel Pegrum from Spice and Peter "Mars" Cowling on bass. Jo ...

, where he was able to use his ability on the flute and oboe. He recorded two studio albums with them, plus a live album before playing with Halcyon and then living on a commune in Worcestershire in 1973. Steeleye Span had finally decided to use a full-time drummer and invited him to join them. Two weeks later he was touring America, with them as the supporting act for Jethro Tull. He remained with Steeleye Span for 17 years, then moved to Australia where he has recorded world-beat albums with aboriginal musicians. He rejoined Steeleye Span for a one-off project, titled ''The Journey'', in 1995. In 1979, Pegrum joined up with Steeleye Span bassist

Rick Kemp Frederick Stanley 'Rick' Kemp (born 15 November 1941) is an English bass player, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Projects In the 1960s, he shot to prom ...

to create

Plant Life Records Plant Life Records was a record label that existed from 1977 until 1984. It was formed by Nigel Pegrum, at that time drummer for Steeleye Span. Maddy Prior recorded one album for the label, as did Wizz Jones in 1977. Its most successful rec ...

. A third member of Steeleye Span,

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...

, released one of her albums on the label. The label's most successful recordings were with the Tannahill Weavers. Pegrum was producer of over 30 albums on the label, which closed down in 1984. He has been a session drummer for

June Tabor June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband. Early life June Tabor was born and grew up in Warwick, England. As ...

Wizz Jones Raymond Ronald Jones (born 25 April 1939), better-known as Wizz Jones, is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England and has been performing since the late 1950s and sound recording an ...

Rosie Hardman Rosemary "Rosie" Hardman (born 26 February 1945) is a British folk singer-songwriter, musician and performer, best known for such recordings as ''Lady For Today'', ''Pride of the River'', ''Song to the Evening Sky'', and ''Tongue Tied''. Hardma ...

and

John Otway John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring. Biography 1970s and 1980s Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mounta ...

. He worked as a freelance producer before emigrating to Australia, where he works with Australian Sun Records. Both Pegrum and Rick Kemp were members of the punk parody band the Pork Dukes in 1977, using pseudonyms. Pegrum produced two albums of the German folk band Lorbass (''Wie es uns gefällt'' in 1979 and ''Wohl bekomm's'' in 1981, both on Burlington Records) on which he played drums as a guest musician. In 1980, he joined up with the German band Stenderband with Stefan Stoppok. He recorded one album, titled ''Erfrischungen''. In 1982, he played the drums on the album ''Drucksache'' with the German band Bernie's Autobahn Band. Pegrum now operates his own recording studio, Pegasus Studios, in Whitfield, a suburb of

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pegrum, Nigel English drummers British male drummers English record producers Steeleye Span members Living people 1949 births British folk rock musicians Place of birth missing (living people)