Folk-rock starts here. While they were chiefly inspired by American bands such as Jefferson Airplane, Fairport Convention are a thoroughly English institution. Whether they were writing songs of their own, or reworking those of others, they made something both individual and influential. By the time they made ‘Liege & Lief’ in 1969, they had left their American influences behind, and instead hauled the English folk traditions into the present. Despite numerous line-up changes in the past, the band still tour and record to this day. They even host their own festival, the Fairport Cropredy Convention, which attracts over 20,000 people a year.