Peter Knight (folk musician)

Peter Knight (born 27 May 1947) is a folk musician, former member of the electric folk group Steeleye Span.

Peter Knight was born in London. As a child he learned the violin and mandolin before going to the Royal Academy of Music from 1960 to 1964. The recordings of the Irish fiddler Michael Coleman inspired him to take part in Irish pub sessions. He teamed up with guitarist and singer Bob Johnson until 1970 when he joined Steeleye Span. The parting was short-lived, as Bob Johnson himself also joined Steeleye Span in 1972.

Peter's classical roots were well hidden until he recorded "A Canon by Telemann" on the album Back In Line, multi-tracking with himself on this tricky baroque piece. In the mid-70s he was secretly a member of The Wombles and appeared on Top of The Pops as Uncle Bulgaria, with Rick Kemp and Bob Johnson also in Womble suits. He left Steeleye Span in January 1977, when it started to look as if the band was about to break up. Peter teamed up with Bob Johnson once more, to record a concept album The King of Elfland's Daughter (1978), based on the novel by Lord Dunsany. It included one song sung by blues legend Alexis Korner and another by Mary Hopkin. In 1980 he returned to Steeleye Span and has appeared on every one of their albums since then.

He announced his decision to leave Steeleye Span at the end of 2013 on his website on 14 November 2013.

Some of the most accomplished folk fiddlers of England and Scotland joined together for a tour in 2001. An album of live performances from the 2001 tour was sold as "Feast of Fiddles" in 2002. The group has continued to tour annually since 2001, but describe themselves as "unsigned". They sell albums of live performances from previous concerts, but in a very restricted way. The CDs are available at the gigs or over the internet. They consist mainly of traditional English tunes, in varying combinations of solo, duo or band.

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