29/01/2022
It's with heavy hearts we have to announce the passing of our dear friend John Les.
As many of you will know John was the patron of the North Wales Bluegrass Festival; the festival was dependant on his backing and support to run so successfully for 28 years in Conwy, North Wales.
John began playing banjo in 1962 aged 17, was a seminal member of the famous Llandudno Folk and Boat Club for boys, and was involved in the early days of several Folk Clubs in North Wales in Llandudno, Rhyl and in the Conwy valley at the Groes Hotel often with his band 'The Harvesters'.
John was a consummate instrumentalist playing anything with strings including banjo, guitar, mandolin, mandocello, autoharp, Appalachian lap dulcimer and fiddle.
His first passion was Old Time songs and tunes, Bluegrass and Folk.
John drew his influences from a wide range of players, Ewan McColl, Pete Seeger, Earl Scruggs, John Hartford, Jodie Stecher, Tony Ellis, Tony Rice and from the wealth of the forgotten writers of Appalachian traditional, Old Time and Gospel songs.
As "Highly Strung" John and his long time singing partner and friend Gill Williams - the Organising Force behind the Festival - travelled extensively, not only in the UK but also to Europe and the USA.
Highly Strung covered 1,500 miles through North Carolina and Tennessee, with performances in Columbus Hall, Ohio, Balsam Mountain Inn, Tennessee, and with the Singer / Songwriter's Guild of Nashville. During that tour they met and sang to John Hartford.
John was know to so many people throughout the UK and whenever you were with him, at a club, pub or festival, it was impossible to go for more than a few minutes without him being greeted by someone passing by, and he always made time to chat to them.
John is survived by his wife Joan, sons Guy & Drew, and his friend Gill.
John Leslie Pritchard - 3rd March 1945 to Tuesday 25th January 2022 - RIP
