John Renbourn

A leading player in the British folk revival of the 1960s and a brilliant, finger picking, acoustic guitarist, John Renbourn helped the resurgence of traditional Celtic music and remains a hugely influential figure. Inspired by American blues stars Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly and Josh White, Renbourn grew up in Torquay but, after studying classical guitar, found himself in Soho's late night clubs playing with the likes of Bert Jansch, Davy Graham and Martin Carthy. He developed a "baroque folk" sound while collaborating with Jansch as the duo Bert and John and went on to release his early solo albums John Renbourn (1965), There You Go (1965) and Another Monday (1967) before becoming co-founder of the British folk scene's first successful supergroup Pentangle in 1968. Renbourn's solo career continued to flourish with his acclaimed albums The Hermit (1976), The Black Balloon (1979) and The Nine Maidens (1986), and he also released a number of guitar tutorial books and DVDs. Still touring regularly, he released his 20th solo studio album Palermo Snow in 2011.