Whippersnapper was an English folk band formed in 1984, consisting of
Dave Swarbrick
David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English traditional folk musician and songwriter and one of the greatest fiddlers in the world. He was one of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second Bri ...
(
fiddle
A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...
,
mandolin
A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...
, vocals),
Chris Leslie
Christopher Michael Leslie (born 28 June 1972) is a British business executive and former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shipley from 1997 to 2005 and Nottingham East from 2010 to 2019. A former member of the La ...
(fiddle, mandolin, vocals),
Kevin Dempsey (guitar, vocals) and Martin Jenkins (
mando-cello
The mandocello () is a plucked string instrument of the mandolin family. It is larger than the mandolin, and is the baritone instrument of the mandolin family. Its eight strings are in four paired courses, with the strings in each course tuned in ...
, flute, vocals).
Swarbrick left the group in 1989, and the band continued as a trio until 1993, with the only album recorded that line-up being ''Stories''.
During that time, Dempsey and Leslie released an album called ''Always With You'' as a duo.
The band split when Jenkins left the group in 1993. However, they did tour briefly again in 1994.
Following Swarbrick's recovery from illness, Whippersnapper toured again as a full four piece in both 2008 and 2009.
Martin Jenkins (born 17 July 1946, London, England) died on 17 May 2011, in
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, from a heart attack.
They are not to be confused with the Australian
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
group,
The Whipper Snappers
The Whipper Snappers is an Australian pop band. Based in Sydney, the band was formed in 1986 by Annette Crowe, Joy Howard, Tim Eaton and Frank Zaknich. They released their debut single in 1988 and the next year played a cover of "Stairway To Hea ...
, who coincidentally played during the period 1988 to 1993.
Discography
* ''Promises'' (1985)
* ''Tsubo'' (1987)
* ''These Foolish Strings'' (1988)
* ''Fortune'' (1990)
* ''Stories'' (1991)
References
{{Authority control
English folk musical groups