ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the question of gender and voicing strategies in a folk rock band's sound signature, using Fairport Convention as a case study. Fairport Convention – best known for leading the charge of British folk rock in the late 1960s, and still active – presents an opportunity to critique the roles assigned to its female and male singers, and their impact on the band. The chapter discusses voicing strategies, and especially the role of lead singer and songwriter Denny in the band's cultivation of a folk rock profile in the popular music market – one based on a uniquely British musical heritage. It addresses both voicing strategies and Denny's role in Fairport Convention in terms of popular music and gender. With a line-up consisting of only men, the band has had to devise alternative voicing strategies when rehearsing new repertoire or revisiting songs from Denny's two periods in Fairport Convention.
