Frederick Stanley 'Rick' Kemp (born 15 November 1941) is an English

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

player, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with the British folk rock band

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

Projects

In the 1960s, he shot to prominence through his work with singer-songwriter Michael Chapman, and had a reputation within the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

as a rock and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

session bassist, before his transition into British folk rock. Kemp joined Steeleye Span in 1972, left in 1986, rejoined in 2000, and left again at the end of 2016. In 1971 Kemp auditioned for

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

, and got the gig shortly before the band recorded their album ''

Islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

''. However, he turned down the opportunity to join them permanently, and reportedly departed the band after just a week, with his role as bassist being filled by singer Boz Burrell. Kemp has played bass on a number of

Maddy Prior Madeleine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk rock singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the p ...

records, and was a member of the Maddy Prior Band in the 1980s. The 1990 album ''Happy Families'' was officially credited to "Maddy Prior and Rick Kemp". He also played on solo albums by former Steeleye Span member Tim Hart in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s he joined Doug Morter ( Albion Band) and Jerry Donahue (Fotheringay, Fairport Convention) in The Backroom Boys. In 2007 again with Morter and Donahue he formed The Gathering (later Gathering Britannia) alongside Kristina Donahue, Ray Jackson and Clive Bunker. They released one album ''The Bridge Between'' (2011) In 1979 Kemp co-founded the

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Plant Life with Steeleye Span drummer Nigel Pegrum. The label was discontinued in 1984. He has released five solo albums: ''Escape'' (1996), ''Spies'' (1998), ''Codes'' (2004), ''Fanfare'' (2009) and ''Perfect Blue'' (2018). The line-up for his first two solo albums consisted primarily of a traditional Blues three-piece, with Kemp working alongside Spud Sinclair on guitar and Charlie Carruthers on drums. His more recent albums have seen Kemp himself playing most of the instruments, with various guest musicians. From 1997 to around 2009, Kemp was the producer for the ceilidh dance band, Whapweasel. He also occasionally played

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(as opposed to bass) with them.

Personal life

Kemp was born in Little Hanford,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, UK. He lives in

Carlisle, Cumbria Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve castra, forts along Hadrian's ...

and was a Music Tutor at Cumbria College of Art and Design in Carlisle in 1996. He was the husband of Steeleye Span lead vocalist

, but they have since divorced. He is also the father of the musician Rose Kemp and hip-hop artist 'Kemp' whose first name is Alex.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp, Rick 1941 births British male bass guitarists English bass guitarists English male guitarists English male singers English male songwriters English folk rock musicians English record producers King Crimson members Musicians from Dorset Steeleye Span members