Albion Dance Band includes: Ashley Hutchings, Shirley Collins, John Tams, Eddie Upton, Simon Nicol, Graeme Taylor, Phil Pickett, John Rodd, John Sothcott, Dave Mattacks, Michael Gregory. Personnel includes: Martin Carthy, Julie Covington, Pat Donaldson, Kate McGarrigle, Linda Thompson, Richard Thompson. After the demise of the Albion Country Band, Ashley Hutchings joined his wife Shirley Collins in the Sussex-based Etchingham Steam Band. Thanks largely to the MORRIS ON project, English country dance was then enjoying something of a renaissance. As the band started to play further afield and to larger audiences, so the pool of musicians involved expanded and the need for amplification grew. Keen to combine English country dance with a rock rhythm section, Hutchings raised the Albion standard anew in 1975. Retaining Collins, Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks and Eddie Upton from the Etchingham pool, Hutchings recruited new musicians including John Tams, Graeme Taylor and early music authority Phil Pickett to create the Albion Dance Band. As THE PROSPECT BEFORE US from 1976 amply proves, they played a muscular version of dance music with extraordinary diversity, taking in traditional material from Sussex and Kent plus 17th century composers like Adson and Purcell. Several vocalists were included as well. Some tracks were recorded at folk dances held in the studio; these capture the excitement of a country dance, with the calling of steps and clapping of hands audible over the music. A wonderful and influential record.