Peter Knight

Gigspanner Big Band’s ‘Turnstone’ is a great example of how traditional song can provide a template for exciting new musical discovery. It’s also a career-defining release from one of folk’s most powerfully creative groups.

Saltlines is a massive, ambitious and highly unusual project; the fact that it feels perfectly judged at every moment is down to the sheer excellence of Gigspanner Big Band’s musicianship and the touching, clear-eyed nature of everything Raynor Winn writes or speaks. It is a constant delight. 

In 1971, Granada TV decided to make a special 30-minute concert on Ainsdale beach featuring Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. Watch the entire set – 30 minutes of excellent classic folk-rock.

We interview Peter Knight and John Spiers about their new album, Both in a Tune, the excitement of free improvisation, comparing playing to 90 minutes playing as a midfielder and the beauty of being lost in a tune.

Peter Knight & John Spiers’ ‘Both in a Tune’ is effortlessly impressive and sublimely performed…innovation, experimentation and improvisation at its very best. By the end this year it will surely still be in the minds of many as one of the best of 2022.

The Gigspanner Big Band take to the road again next month with an expanded lineup which, as well as Edgelarks, now includes John Spiers. Watch them performing Awake Awake which will feature on their new album set for release in April 2020.

Next month marks ten years since the release of Lipreading the Poet, the debut album by Peter Knight’s Gigspanner. They will be celebrating with an anniversary tour which kicks off this month.

Peter Knight and John Spiers were unable to resist the lure of hooking up before the year is through. They will be reuniting to play just eight concerts in December…not to be missed.

Gigspanner, formed by (ex-Steeleye Span) fiddle player Peter Knight and BBC Folk Award winners (Best Duo) Phillip Henry and Hannah Martin (now Edgelarks) head out on the road together tomorrow as Gigspanner Big Band – “a unique musical proposition; they are taking folk music down new and enthralling paths.”

Improvisation and invention meet the listener at every turn of ‘Well Met’. Knight and Spiers have created a musical document that should inspire future generations of musicians to engage with Britain’s folk dancing heritage, and the beautiful, mysterious tunes that can be found within that heritage. 

Peter Knight (ex-Steeleye Span) and John Spiers (ex-Bellowhead) announce March UK Tour and share ‘The Cuckoo’, a medley of tunes taken from their debut album ‘Well Met’ which is ready for imminent release.

With Gigspanner, Peter Knight has assembled one of the most quietly brilliant sets of musicians in the folk world and beyond. The WIfe Of Urban Law is both experimental and accessible; it is music that respects the past without being in thrall to it. And more importantly, it is a record of stunning and sustained beauty.