WITHOUT them there’d be no Mumford and Sons.

At least not as we know them.

And Steeleye Span just wouldn’t be the same.

Fairport Convention’s fourth album, Liege & Lief, which came out in 1969, is widely recognised as marking the beginning of English folk-rock, and their sound still permeates British music today.

This seminal LP saw the band turn away away from their original US West Coast influences towards a more traditional English sound.

Fairport set about the electrification of forgotten ballads, myths, and jigs, unearthed at Cecil Sharpe House, the home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

And in so doing, they transformed themselves from a rock band with a hint of folk, into re-interpreters of traditional English music.

This weekend, as part of their 2015 Spring Tour, the band are set to give a concert at The Convent in South Woodchester.

They are promoting their new, 27th album, Myths and Heroes, and the performance will feature songs and tunes from it, as well as classics from a repertoire spanning nearly fifty years.

Fairport Convention hold a coveted BBC Lifetime Achievement Award and their groundbreaking album Liege & Lief was voted Most Influential Folk Album of All Time by Radio 2 listeners.

Fairport Convention are at The Convent, South Woodchester, on Sunday at 8pm.

To book tickets, at £25, call 0330 2232 707 or visit www.theconvent.net or view live via www.netgig.co.uk