(b Long Eaton, Derbyshire, 5 Dec 1944). English songwriter, singer and musician. He was much influenced by British traditional music. After performing, while still at school, in the eclectic world of the early English folk revival, Pegg went to Leeds University (1963–9) where he did fieldwork on the musical traditions of the Yorkshire Dales and edited a pioneering journal on traditional and folk club music called Abe's Folk Music (1966–9). His conclusion that ‘folk’ or ‘traditional’ music could not be defined usefully outside its social context was not universally accepted in Britain at the time, and caused a stir even in 1976, when it was propounded in his book Folk. The instrumental composition of the Dales dance bands and chapel orchestras influenced the line-up of the folk-rock band Mr Fox, which Bob and Carole Pegg formed in 1970. At this point Pegg began to work seriously as a songwriter, producing material that was characteristically narrative and melody-based. He became best known for extended pieces of storytelling like The Gipsy and Bones. The formation of Mr Fox was also the beginning of 20 years as a touring musician. In 1975, Pegg moved to the West Yorkshire Pennines, an area that became the subject of his Calderdale Songs, commissioned by the Hebden Bridge Festival in 1978 and released on the CD The Last Wolf (1996). During this period he also produced music for radio, television, theatre and film. He moved in 1990 to the Highlands of Scotland, where he is now an arts worker in Ross and Cromarty. Recent projects have included: scores for the community dramas Macbeth and Storm; the introduction of American Sacred Harp singing to the Highlands; investigations into Pictish music with harpist Bill Taylor; research and performance of music of the Great Glen with E. Mairi MacArthur; and creation of soundposts for Pictavia visitor centre in Brechin.
B. Pegg: Folk: A Portrait of English Traditional Music, Musicians and Customs (London, 1976)
He Came from the Mountains, perf. B. Pegg, C. Pegg, Trailer LER 3016 (1971)
And Now It Is So Early: Songs of Sidney Carter, perf. B. Pegg, C. Pegg, S. Carter, Galliard GAL 4017 (1972)
Bob Pegg and Nick Strutt, perf. B. Pegg, N. Strutt, Transatlantic TRA 265 (1973)
The Shipbuilder, perf. B. Pegg, Transatlantic TRA 280 (1974)
Ancient Maps, perf. B. Pegg, Transatlantic TRA 299 (1975)
The Last Wolf, perf. B. Pegg, Rhiannon RHYD 5009 (1996)
Breaking the Silence: Music inspired by the Picts, perf. B. Pegg, B. Taylor, The Highland Council PICT 001 (1997)
DAVE ARTHUR