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I was born on Merseyside (Cheshire - the posh side) & lived in Chester until I was 18,  then moved to Corfe Mullen in Dorset in 1963.

The culture shock was so great that I purchased an acoustic guitar (an extremely bad one, as I recall) and went for some lessons.  As it turned out, the guy giving the lessons was in a local pop combo (they called them groups in those days) and I was invited to be their lead singer.

After the group split in 1967, I took myself and guitar (I had a better one, by now) into the local folk clubs.  It was just the right time (Dylan, Paxton, Ochs, Hardin etc had made the folk scene blossom) and I stayed playing solo until 1970, when a chance meeting with Tony Paul (from a soon-to-be-disbanded folk trio, Wild Honey) lead to the birth of Reformation (lead lady vocalist was Liz Biddle) - main influences being Fairport Convention, Lindisfarne and Steeleye Span. 
Liz left after 18 months and was replaced by Sue Whapples. The group lasted until 1976, when we all went our separate ways. 

I joined a Country-Rock trio called Sleepy Eye (playing electric guitar and singing).  When this band split in 1979, I played in a duo with local 5 string banjo whizz kid, Barry Foley, for 2 years before returning to the country rock scene with the group, Nasty Rumour.
This band lasted until 1991 and only split when my wife and I left to live in Southern France for 3 years.

A chance meeting in 1996 with my old Reformation band mates, Tony Paul and Sue Whapples, lead to the formation of another band, Mid-Life Crisis. Influences - just about everything, from Richard Thompson to While and Matthews! 
We made our debut at the Blue Boar  and enjoyed ourselves immensely until 2002, when Sue died suddenly.  Feeling unable to replace her, Tony and I played as a duo occasionally. But,after a while Tony left to continue his career as a professional artist, and I decided to take the plunge and go solo again - which is where you find me today.

CONTACT

Email Rod Jenkins