Kevin Dempsey
Kevin Dempsey | |
---|---|
Genres | Folk |
Years active | c. 1960s–present |
Labels | various |
Website | kevindempsey |
Kevin Dempsey is a Coventry-born guitarist, songwriter, producer and arranger whose playing has been described as "innovative".[1]
He started off playing drums before moving quickly to guitar.[2]
A co-founder of progressive folk act Dando Shaft, when the band broke up in 1972, he spent time in India before heading to the US, where he joined Blue Aquarius, a jazz/ funk outfit signed to the Stax record label. He also played Latin music with Los Bohemios, and did session work with Alice Coltrane.[3]
Returning to the UK, he's gone on to perform with a variety of acts including, notably, Swarb's Lazarus and Whippersnapper (band) with Dave Swarbrick, and Uiscedwr (2005-2007).
He has also worked with Denim (band), accordion player Karen Tweed, Cincinnati-based Rosie Carson [4] and Peter Knight (folk musician).[5]
Kevin has released one solo album, 1987's The Cry Of Love.
In 1999, he teamed with fiddle player Joe Broughton (The Urban Folk Quartet, The Albion Band) as Dempsey Broughton. The duo have released several albums, beginning with Every Other World (1999), and tour intermittently. Their most recent release is Off By Heart (2017).[6]
Dempsey said, the duo play "instrumentals, traditional songs and original songs". [7]
Selected Discography
- An Evening With Dando Shaft - Dando Shaft (1970)
- Dando Shaft - Dando Shaft (1971)
- Lantaloon - Dando Shaft (1972)
- Promises - Whippersnapper (1985)
- Tsubo - Whippersnapper (1987)
- The Cry Of Love - Kevin Dempsey (1987/1988)
- Fortune - Whippersnapper (1989)
- Always With You - Chris Leslie and Kevin Dempsey (1989)
- Every Other World - Dempsey Broughton (1999)
- Mazurka Berserker - John Kirkpatrick (2001)
- Freehand - Dempsey Broughton (2004)
- Circle - Uiscedwr (2006)
- The Salty Diamond - Rosie Carson and Kevin Dempsey (2010)
- Raison D’etre - Swarbrick (2010)
- Between the Distance - Rosie Carson and Kevin Dempsey (2011)
- Nightbirds - Rosie Carson and Kevin Dempsey (2016)
- Off By Heart - Dempsey Broughton (2017)
References
- ^ Folking.com album review, June 2010 https://folking.com/rosie-carson-kevin-dempsey-the-salty-diamond-own-label-originally-posted-sunday-june-20-2010/
- ^ Coventry Music History, june 2007, Dando Shaft http://coventrymusichistory.typepad.com/blog/2007/06/dando-shaft-cov-band.html
- ^ AllMusic biography https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kevin-dempsey-mn0000051742
- ^ Folking.com The Salty Diamond, album review, 20 June 2010, https://folking.com/rosie-carson-kevin-dempsey-the-salty-diamond-own-label-originally-posted-sunday-june-20-2010/
- ^ Coventry Telegraph/ CoventryLive, 'Second Chance To See ...' 11 June 2010, https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/whats-on/music/second-chance-see-rosie-carson-3061737
- ^ Folk Radio UK, Alex Gallacher, Folk Show Ep2, July 2017, http://www.folkradio.co.uk/2017/07/folk-show-ep-2/
- ^ Express and Star, "Dempsey and Broughton Announce Brum Gig", 16 January 2018, https://www.expressandstar.com/entertainment/2018/01/16/dempsey-broughton-announce-brum-gig/