Definition of 'Whippersnapper'
an unimportant but offensively presumptuous person, esp. a young one.

Whippersnapper, the folk rock group was formed in 1983 by Dave Swarbrick. His career to date meant he was already a legend on the folk scene having been a member of The Ian Campbell Folk Group and of course Fairport Convention.
Whippersnapper was the first band he had brought together himself. Initial contact was with Martin Jenkins and Chris Leslie. Looking for a fourth member, Martin recommended fellow Coventry musician Kevin Dempsey to complete the quartet. Swarb now had three of the most respected acoustic string players in the country as his fellow musicians.

In their first year together they played at the two most famous folk festivals in the UK - Cambridge and Cropredy. Through the second half of the 1980s Whippersnapper remained one of the must-see (and must-hear) bands playing on the British acoustic music scene. Tour gigs were inevitable sell-out dates and festival organisers vied to book them. They released five albums - the classic Promises (1985), Tsubo (1987), the live album These Foolish Strings (1989), Fortune (1989) and Stories (1991). By the time the final album was released, Swarb had left the band he had formed, leaving the others to continue as a trio.

Remembered with a combination of affection, reverence and delight, Whippersnapper remain of the truly great English folk bands, a watershed in the music`s post-folk-rock development.

I remember seeing the band at a couple of small folk festivals around 1987. I bought a cassette tape of 'Tsubo' which I still play occasionally today.

In 2007 Whippersnapper reformed and as I can't find any Youtube videos from their eighties gigs here is one from the first gig of their 2009 re-union tour and although they appear to lack a little of the energy from the eighties, they are still ace!

a favourite track of mine from the Tsubo album is this old classic
"Fare thee well my lovely Nancy"

For many years Swarbrick has suffered steadily worsening health due to emphysema. There was considerable embarrassment for the Daily Telegraph newspaper in 1999 when it published a premature obituary for Swarbrick after he was admitted to hospital with a chest infection
The Daily Telegraph came mistakenly to believe that Dave Swarbrick had died and published this obituary on 20 April 1999. The paper apologised when it found out it was mistaken.

Dave and Christine Pegg launched the SwarbAid, including a fund-raising concert at Birmingham's Symphony Hall in July 1999, and a limited-edition EP live recorded in the hope of paying for his treatment. After a relapse they launched SwarbAid II with a similar concert in 2004.
Swarbrick was fortunate enough, in October 2004, to receive a double lung transplant and has since enjoyed improved health and a better quality of life after being confined to a wheelchair for some years.