Kevin Dempsey is a British, Coventry-born guitarist, songwriter, producer and arranger, whose playing has been described as "innovative".

Career

Dempsey started off playing drums before moving quickly to guitar. A co-founder of progressive folk act Dando Shaft, when the band broke up in 1972, Dempsey spent time in India before heading to the US, where he joined

Blue Aquarius Blue Aquarius was a 1970s funk/rock band with a big band sound, consisting of over 50 members who were followers of Prem Rawat and led by Rawat's brother Bhole Ji. The band recorded a self-titled album for Stax Records' Gospel Truth label in 197 ...

, a jazz/ funk outfit signed to

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

. He also played Latin music with Los Bohemios, and did session work with

Alice Coltrane Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few h ...

. Upon returning to the UK, Dempsey went on to perform with a variety of acts including, notably,

Swarb's Lazarus Swarb's Lazarus, or just Lazarus were an English folk band formed by Dave Swarbrick ("Swarb") (fiddle, mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally p ...

and

Whippersnapper (band) Whippersnapper was an English folk band formed in 1984, consisting of Dave Swarbrick (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Chris Leslie (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), Kevin Dempsey ( guitar, vocals) and Martin Jenkins ( mando-cello, flute, vocals). Swar ...

with

Dave Swarbrick David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...

, and Uiscedwr (2005-2007). He also worked with

Denim (band) Denim were an English indie rock band, the brainchild of Lawrence (formerly of Felt), and was based in Birmingham, England. History Following the end of his former group, 1980s post-punk outfit Felt, Lawrence moved into different territory ...

, accordion player

Karen Tweed Karen Tweed (born 1963,'Karen ...

, Cincinnati-based Rosie Carson and

Peter Knight (folk musician) Peter Knight (born 27 May 1947) is a folk musician, a former member of British folk rock group Steeleye Span. Born in London, Knight learnt to play the violin and mandolin as a child before going to the Royal Academy of Music from 1960 to 1964 ...

. Other artists Kevin has played with include

Percy Sledge Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song " When a Man Loves a Woman", a No. 1 hit on both the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 196 ...

The Marvellettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who w ...

Mary Black Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...

(accompanying her on a 2004 US tour)Perfect Partnership
CoventryLive, 9 April 2010 and from 2018,

Jacqui McShee Jacqueline 'Jacqui' McShee (born 25 December 1943) is an English singer. Since 1966 she has performed with Pentangle, a jazz-influenced folk rock band. Biography McShee was born in Catford, South London. Her musical career began as a soloist i ...

. In 2020, McShee and Dempsey released ''From There To Here'' via their own McDem Records which gave "them both a chance to explore and record more traditional folk songs and share writing ventures." Well travelled, Dempsey has performed across the UK, Europe, Ireland, US and in 2013, made his first appearance in Australia, appearing at Folkworld Fairbridge Festival.Kennedy, Sharo
His dad wanted him to be a drummer: guitarist Kevin Dempsey
ABC South West WA, 26 April 2013, retrieved 10 July 2020. Kevin has released one solo album, 1987's ''The Cry Of Love''.

Dempsey Broughton

In 1999, Dempsey teamed with fiddle player Joe Broughton ( The Urban Folk Quartet,

The Albion Band The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the mo ...

) as Dempsey Broughton. The duo have released several albums, beginning with Every Other World (1999), and tour intermittently. Their most recent release is ''Off By Heart'' (2017). Dempsey said, the duo play "instrumentals, traditional songs and original songs", while their teaming has been described as a "dynamic partnership." In 2019, the duo marked their 20th anniversary with a series of UK dates.

Style

Although Dempsey is best known for his work within the British folk tradition, "he grew up on a diet of American music; folk, blues, soul, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, Otis Redding, Mississippi John Hurt" and has played with musicians from US, El Salvador and Guatemala. His wide experience "shows in his versatility and ability to turn his hand, and guitar, to many different styles and genres."Ano
Guitar star Kevin Dempsey to take Root in Doncaster
The Star, 28 March 2018, retrieved 10 July 2020. Dempsey has been praised for his "sensitive finger picking"Ward, Phili
Sandy Denny: Reflections on Her Music
Troubador Publishing Ltd, 5 March 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2020. while

Martin Carthy Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such ...

has referred to him as “a beautiful guitarist.”

Selected discography

* ''An Evening With Dando Shaft'' - Dando Shaft (1970) * ''Dando Shaft'' - Dando Shaft (1971) * ''Lantaloon'' - Dando Shaft (1972) * ''Promises'' - Whippersnapper (1985) * ''Tsubo'' - Whippersnapper (1987) * ''The Cry Of Love'' - Kevin Dempsey (1987/1988) * ''Fortune'' - Whippersnapper (1989) * ''Always With You'' - Chris Leslie and Kevin Dempsey (1989) * ''Every Other World'' - Dempsey Broughton (1999) * ''Mazurka Berserker'' - John Kirkpatrick (2001) * ''Freehand'' - Dempsey Broughton (2004) * ''Circle'' - Uiscedwr (2006) * ''The Salty Diamond'' - Rosie Carson and Kevin Dempsey (2010) * ''Raison D’etre'' - Swarbrick (2010) * ''Between the Distance'' - Rosie Carson and Kevin Dempsey (2011) * ''Nightbirds'' - Rosie Carson and Kevin Dempsey (2016) * ''Off By Heart'' - Dempsey Broughton (2017) * ''From There To Here'' - Jacqui McShee Kevin Dempsey (2020)

References

External links

Kevin Dempsey official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Kevin Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British folk guitarists British male guitarists Whippersnapper (band) members Swarb's Lazarus members