The Etchingham Steam Band

During 1974 and 1975 Shirley Collins and Ashley Hutchings led a remarkable acoustic ensemble playing the traditional music of southern England, around the folk clubs and festivals of Britain.

Named after the village in Sussex where he and Shirley Collins were living, the Etchingham Steam Band was an all-acoustic project of Ashley Hutchings, put together in early 1974 and featuring Shirley Collins as vocalist (who had earlier contributed similar material to both "No Roses" and "Morris On"). Initially formed around the nucleus of Shirley, Ashley, Ian Holder and Terry Potter (with occasional contributions from Simon Nicol), it transmuted into a larger, more flexible operation around mid 1974 with, at various times, contributions from Will Duke, Mel Dean, Vic Gammon, Dave Mattacks, and even Peter Knight (according to Pete Frame's "Rock Family Trees"), plus Eddie Upton as dance caller. Eventually, a subset of the Etchinghams became the more "electric" The Albion Dance Band, in 1975, which included Dave Mattacks as more of a permanent drummer (shared with Fairport Convention duties), and brought Graeme Taylor (ex Gryphon) and John Tams (ex Muckram Wakes) into the Hutchings fold for the first time.