The Albion Band - Biography
Ashley Hutchings founded The Albion Band, a rotating collection of hired musicians that also performed and recorded as The Albion Dance Band and The Albion Country Band, after he’d grown dissatisfied with the less traditional direction of his previous band, Steeleye Span. Throughout its long and checkered history, The Albion Band has been sported more than 100 musicians who have gone on to make their own marks in British folk music, including Richard Thompson, Shirley Collins, Martin Carthy, Steve Ashley, Lol Coxhill, Nic Jones, John Kirkpatrick, Maddy Prior, Martin Simpson, John Sothcott, Roger Swallow, Sue Harris, Linda Thompson, Lal and Mike Waterson, and Pete Zorn.
Hutchings started The Albion Band as a backing group for his then wife Shirley Collins when the plaintive British singer was signed to Island. On the liner notes for Collin’s No Roses (1971 Island), the band consisted of more than 20 people. The group got on so well they became a touring unit, and in 1973 they cut Battle of the Field (Island). However, due to label politics, the initial release was held up for three years, until 1976.
Meanwhile, Hutchings changed the band name to The Albion Country Band and made The Compleat Dancing Master (1974 Island UK/Antilles US), a blend of ancient music with light rock instrumentation. The album revived interest in the ancient folk dance traditions of England and was hailed as a masterpiece. Hutchings was the leader of The Albion Band, and between his solo projects and his other bands—The Etchingham Steam Band, Morris On, The Ashley Hutchings All Stars, the Ashley Hutchings Big Beat Combo, and The Rainbow Chasers—he’d periodically gather Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks, and whoever else was available for various Albion Band and Albion Dance Band projects.
The Albion Band’s discography spans over four decades, and includes: The Prospect Before Us (1977 Harvest); Rise Up Like the Sun (1978 Harvest), which is acknowledged as one of the band’s best albums; Light Shining (1983 Albino); Shuffle Off (1983 Spindrift); Under the Rose (1984 Spindrift); A Christmas Present From The Albion Band (1985 Fun); a little-known carols and traditional Christmas songs collection which led to the band’s long running series of holiday concerts, Stella Maris (1987 Spin); I Got New Shoes (1988 Making Waves), which was released as the Albion Dance Band; Give Me a Saddle, I’ll Trade You a Car (1989 Topic); 1990 (1990 Topic); Acousticity (1993 Talking Elephant); Before Us Stands Yesterday (1993 Talking Elephant); Albion Heart (1995 Talking Elephant); Demi Paradise (1996 Talking Elephant); Happy Accident (1998 Transatlantic); and Road Movies (2001 Topic).
In 2005 Hutchings revived the rotating collective for a series of acoustic Christmas concerts as The Albion Christmas Band. They put out a pair of CDs under that name, including Winter Songs (2006 Talking Elephant) and Snow on Snow (2008 Talking Elephant). The Albion Band has a few compilations available for a brief overview as well, The Acoustic Years 1993-1997 (1997 Talking Elephant), the two-CD set No Surrender (2003 Recall), and Albion Sunrise (2004 Castle), which is a two-CD selection from their ’90s albums.
