The Impossible Dream

Despite the success of 2020’s acclaimed Love Over Fear, the last few years haven’t been an easy ride for Pendragon. Mainman Nick Barrett tells Prog about the new mini-album, North Star, and how the band are rising to the challenges of touring in the 2020s with their very own ‘VIP’ weekenders.

- Rich Wilson

It’s easy to picture Pendragon’s Nick Barrett at work in his Cornwall home, curious cows peering over his garden fence and Barrett noodling with his guitar while gazing thoughtfully out to sea. It’s a serene setting that provides rather a sharp contrast with some of the hardships endured over the first 45 years of Pendragon’s career.

“For me, this is the icing on the cake, really,” concurs Barrett. “All the time we were sleeping in vans and struggling with trying to make a living. At times we were living in one-bedroomed accommodation, getting into debt and doing shitty jobs just to keep things going. But now I can get up in the morning, play my guitar and stare out looking out at the view of the sea. It’s just fantastic and I’ve always got a few songs going around. I still play a lot and I really love it more than ever.”

Those character-building days of musician hardship of Pendragon’s formative years have certainly been on Barrett’s mind over recent years. With their last album, Love Over Fear, released back in 2020 and touring restricted, the guitarist began writing an autobiography. Although it remains an ongoing project, he’s also in the tentative stages of forming new music for his band.

“I started writing a book on Pendragon and I decided to get through the early years before I forget them,” he reflects with a laugh. “There were so many funny little things that happened and stories from over the years: sleeping in a van and crashing on people’s floors and just trying to get somewhere with the band. So it’s a story of the impossible dream in a way that if you want to do anything you can. It’s got this message in there as well as the humour side as well.