This is my conversation with Nick Barrett. It took place on 7/16/23 from his home near London.

The story begins in the quiet, sleepy town of Stroud, Gloucestershire, England in 1978. Four likeminded, young musicians got together and decided to form a rock band. Zeus Pendragon consisting of Nick Barrett [guitar/vocals], Julian Baker [guitar/vocals], Nigel Harris [drums] and Stan Cox [bass] was born.

Full of ambition and joie de vive, Zeus Pendragon started out playing cover versions of classic rock tunes by Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and Santana and their first gig at the sleazy Marshall Rooms in Stroud was ironically the very same day that Nick Barrett left school forever, burning his maths books and picking up his guitar on the way… the future had been determined.

The Zeus part of their name was dropped when the foresighted Julian decided it was far too long to fit across a t-shirt, and this ridiculous cross pollination of Arthurian and Greek mythology just seemed silly beyond belief.

Pendragon were approached by local promoter and manager Greg Lines, who took them under his wing. Greg had promoted many concerts in the area (including U2, who actually slept on Greg’s lounge floor following their Stroud gig) Julian and Nick spent many days and some all nighters writing the first Pendragon material and dreaming of stardom, but Pendragon’s ambitious schedule soon meant that Stan decided to leave, as it became clear he preferred to listen to music rather than play it.

Line up hassles plagued the band in the early days and it wasn’t long before the imaginative but fiery Julian decided to quit as keyboard based music became more prominent in Pendragon, which more or less negated the need for a 2nd guitarist. Nick and Barney were soon writing together and the distinctive Barrett/Barnfield sound was forged [eg : Excalibur, Oh Divineo].

Toff records was still a small, home run business and the avalanche of success with the next album, The Masquerade Overture, saw the lounge of Nick’s small cottage piled high with 35,000 cds ready to be exported all over the world. The family were all drafted in to help whilst Nick was immersed in interviews and promo work, it was a beautiful chaos.

However a maelstrom of events were to come both personally for Nick and Pendragon. Nick says: “It was strange because when I was writing “The Shadow”, (Masquerade Overture) there was a line that started ‘there’s a man who’s followed me just about all of my life, being to you what I couldn’t be, I call him my insecurity’, I very clearly remember writing this and there was a slightly strange atmosphere in the studio that day, little did I know how prophetic those lyrics would become.”

Just like in 1991 when The World was unleashed, there was a wind of change and a feeling of anticipation in the air. 2005 saw the release of Believe, the 7th studio album by Pendragon which reflected a renewed youthful exuberance and fresh approach both musically and visually for the band. Pendragon undertook the biggest tour they had ever done of Europe and followed it with a release of the brilliant And Now Everybody ToThe Stage dvd.

2007 saw the 21st Anniversary of The Jewel dvd release called Past And Presence which included most of the musicians from those early days and goes to show how this tenacious band can still thrill, evolve and capitalise on its strengths over a 30 year period where so many others have failed.

2009 Started with Nick and Scott accepting the Classic Rock Society’s Album of the Year award for Pure and in March the album came top of the Dutch Progressive Rock Page’s annual poll. It was seated at the top of the IO Pages chart for nearly a year and also topped many other polls and charts and received brilliant reviews from all over the globe.

2010 kicked off with Nick receiving the Classic Rock Society’s award for Best Guitarist, Scott receiving the award for Best Drummer, Clive scooping best Keyboard player and the band winning Best Gig, it was a great way to start the year.

In 2010 Pendragon reached out to new audiences from across the globe, with fantastic reactions in USA at RoSFest, London’s incredible new High Voltage festival and Sweden Rock Festival.

Spring 2011 saw Pendragon reach further heights with the release of Passion – an album that covers barrier pushing elements, but never moving too far away from their trademark melodies and emotive lyrics. The album reached 29 in the official UK Indie chart and received astonishing reviews in the press, even from some of the most hardened Pendragon-haters!

The album was voted 4th best album of the year in Prog Magazine [only beaten by big household name bands like Yes and Rush.] At the Classic Rock Society Awards Pendragon scooped Best Album, Best Song, Best Live show, Best Keyboard player and Best drummer.