Description
1962 marked the year of the traditional folk revival in Bristol and surrounding counties. I was half of the folk duo, The Crofters, the other half being Martin Pyman and the formation of our duo coincided with the ‘Centre 42’ movement initiated by London playwright Arnold Wesker whose aim it was to ‘bring folk music back to the people’. This objective was not entirely successful, but it helped to eventually bring about the formation of a number of folk clubs in the area. For us it was of immense importance as we were being sent out to very unlikely pubs to sing alongside the likes of Francis McPeake, Louis Killen, Bob Davenport, Cyril Tawney and other top traditional singers of the day. I started songwriting around this time – songs mostly now long forgotten. - Gef Lucena