Hedgehog Pie

Hedgehog Pie
Origin	England
Genres	Folk, folk rock, electric folk
Years active	1971–78
Labels	Rubber Records Black Crow Records
Associated acts	Tony Capstick Doonan Family Band Jack the Lad Steeleye Span
Website	http://www.jedgrimes.co.uk
Past members	Dave Burland - Alan Dixon - Mick Doonan - Ian 'Walter' Fairbairn - Jed Grimes - Martin Jenkins - Stu Luckley - Margi Luckley - Phil Murray - Andy Seagroat

Hedgehog Pie were an electric folk group from the north-east of England, formed in 1971. Despite frequent line-up changes, they built up a considerable regional and national following and produced three highly regarded albums. They were connected to many of the most important folk and rock bands of the region from the 1970s and have been seen as one of the most significant groups in a rediscovery and popularisation of Northumbrian roots music.

The origins of Hedgehog Pie were in a loose collection of folk musicians in Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1969. By 1971 it had solidified into two members of the Doonan Family Band, Mick Doonan (flute) and Phil Murray (bass), together with Jed Grimes (guitar) and Andy Seagroat (fiddle). This line-up acted as a backing group to Tony Capstick on his album His Round. In 1972 they added another Doonan Family Band member Stu Luckley (guitar and bass), plus his wife Margi Luckley (vocals) and Ian 'Walter' Fairburn (fiddle). Fairburn and Murray soon departed to join local band Jack the Lad, formed out of the split in Lindisfarne, and the group replaced them with Martin Jenkins (violin) from Dando Shaft. It seems to have been at this point that they adopted electric instruments. The reputation of Doonan and Jenkins probably helped them to secure them a contract with local label Rubber Records and it was this line-up that recorded the first album.

The self-titled first album (1975) owed something to Jethro Tull (in Doonan's flute), Fairport Convention (the heavily strummed guitars), but, perhaps unsurprisingly for an album co-produced by Geoff Heslop and Steeleye Span's Rick Kemp, it owed most to the early work of that band in the use of heavy plucked bass, no drums and Margi Luckley's vocals which closely resembled those of Maddy Prior. It contained a mix of instrumentals and ballads, including 'Marriners' and 'Jack Orion'. The album was a critical success, if not a commercial one, and they gained a growing reputation as live performers, both as a headline band and supporting acts such as Richard Thompson, Mike Harding and John Martyn. Their reputation was aided by the release of the instrumental 'Drops of Brandy' on the important compilation The Electric Muse (1975).

...
Wikipedia