Chris Leslie

Christopher Julian Leslie (born 15 December 1956) is a British folk rock musician. He joined Fairport Convention in 1997.

Early years

Leslie grew up in Banbury, Oxfordshire. His brother John steered him toward The Watersons' Frost and Fire, Dave Swarbrick, and The Corries. In 1969 he began to teach himself fiddle and modelled himself on the fiddle-playing of Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention, Peter Knight of Steeleye Span, and Barry Dransfield.

Leslie made his first recording at the age of 16, with a Banbury-based folk rock band and then went on to forge a successful career around the folk clubs with his brother John – cutting their first album, The Ship of Time in 1976. During this period he was also the fiddle player for The Hookey Band and a member of the morris dancers at Adderbury. It was around this time that he first came to the attention of Fairport's Dave Pegg.

From 1981 to 1983 Chris Leslie studied violin making, under the watchful eye of maker Patrick Jowett, at the Newark School of Violin Making in Nottinghamshire, England. He currently plays the second fiddle he made at Newark on stage.

Session work

Since then he has worked with Steve Ashley, Whippersnapper, the Albion Band, All About Eve, Simon Mayor and Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull). In 1981 he contributed to a cassette tape of peace songs by Steve Ashley released by CND entitled Demo Tapes. Also on the tape were sessions by members of Fairport Convention, Dave Pegg, Simon Nicol and Bruce Rowland. In 1983 he contributed to More Demo Tapes, another Steve Ashley cassette album for CND. He also accompanied Steve Ashley on his song "Down By the Old Embankment" on the album All Through the Year (1991). This was a compilation of original tracks by various artists. He also appeared on People on the Highway (Bert Jansch tribute album, 2000). There were other appearances on Steve Ashley albums (see discography). In 2003, Chris played violin on several tracks from Mostly Autumn's album Passengers. In late 2007 he recorded violin and mandolin parts on Dan Crisp's debut album Far From Here.

With Fairport and solo albums In 1997 he joined Fairport Convention as singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has recorded five solo albums – The Flow, The Gift, Dancing Days, Origins, Turquoise Tales and Fiddle Back. At first sight Dancing Days appears to be a Fairport Convention album, as it features Simon Nicol, Dave Pegg, Ashley Hutchings and Ric Sanders. However, each of these artists appears only in a sequence of duos with Leslie. He has also recorded collaborations with Ashley Hutchings including Grandson of Morris On .

Chris also takes part in an annual Christmas tour with St Agnes Fountain and also takes part in "A Feast of Fiddles" – a collaboration with Peter Knight, Tom Leary (The Hookey Band), Ian Cutler, Phil Beer (Show of Hands) and Brian McNeill (The Battlefield Band).

Personal life He is Buddhist, a vegetarian, and a teetotaler.

Discography Solo 1994 – The Gift 1997 – The Flow 2004 – Dancing Days 2013 – Origins 2015 – Turquoise Tales 2020 – Fiddle Back

In groups 1985 – Whippersnapper: Promises 1987 – Whippersnapper: Tsubo 1988 – Whippersnapper: These Foolish Strings 1990 – Whippersnapper: Fortune 1991 – Whippersnapper: Stories 1996 – The Albion Band: Demi Paradise 1997 – Fairport Convention: Who Knows Where the Time Goes? 1999 – Fairport Convention: The Wood and the Wire 2001 – St Agnes Fountain: Acoustic Carols for Christmas 2001 – Fairport Convention: XXXV 2002 – Morris on Band: Grandson of Morris On 2002 – St Agnes Fountain: Comfort and Joy 2004 – Feast of Fiddles: Nicely Wrong 2004 – Fairport Convention: Over the Next Hill 2006 – St Agnes Fountain: The White Xmas Album 2007 – Fairport Convention: Sense of Occasion 2008 – St Agnes Fountain: Soal Cake 2010 – Feast of Fiddles: Walk Before You Fly 2010 – St Agnes Fountain: Spirit of Christmas 2011 – Fairport Convention: Festival Bell 2012 – Fairport Convention: By Popular Request 2012 – St Agnes Fountain: Twelve Years of Christmas 2013 – Feast of Fiddles: Rise Above It 2014 – St Agnes Fountain: Christmas is Not Far Away 2015 – Fairport Convention: Myths and Heroes 2017 – Fairport Convention: 50:50@50 2017 – Feast of Fiddles: Sleight of Elbow 2017 – St Agnes Fountain: 25/12 2020 – Fairport Convention: Shuffle and Go 2021 – St Agnes Fountain: Night of a Million Stars 2025 – St Agnes Fountain: Flakes and Flurries

Appearances with Steve Ashley 1981 – Demo Tapes 1982 – Steve Ashley's Family Album 1985 – More Demo Tapes 1989 – Mysterious Ways 1991 – All Through The Year 1999 – The Test of Time 2000 – People on the Highway 2001 – Everyday Lives 2006 – Live in Concert 2007 – Time And Tide 2021 – Steve Ashley's Family Album Revisited