Martin Simpson - Biography

Born and raised in Scunthorpe, Lincs. Martin Simpson took to the guitar early on in life; playing guitar by age 12 and banjo by the age of 13 it was little surprise that he gave his first paid performance by the age of 14.

Having grown up listening to the likes of Martin Carthy, Dick Gaughan and Christy Moore at his local folk club, Martin decided the life of a professional musician was for him and when leaving school in 1970 he took to the folk clubs around Britain. Martin soon found himself performing alongside the likes of, Ashley Hutchings, Martin Carthy, Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson and by 1976 he had released his first Solo album Golden Vanity. Later the same year he found himself supporting one of the UK’s biggest folk rock bands, Steeleye Span...

On his return Martin was invited by the legendary June Tabor to tour with her; the pair went on to form a decade long collaboration during which they released three notable albums, Abyssinians, Cut Above and Aqaba, even after Martin moved to the US in 1987 they continued to work on a further two albums.

The late Eighties saw a move to the USA, spending time in both California and New Orleans, Martin spent the next 15 years playing the delta blues and country songs of America's South alongside more traditional American and British songs. During his time in the states he produced several albums including Red Roses, Cool and Unusual and the noteworthy blues album Smoke and Mirrors.

Since his return to the UK the last four years have seen three highly acclaimed albums from Martin. The Bramble Briar , Righteousness & Humidity and Kind Letters all of which have helped earn him an army of new fans and rightly so, with awards including winner of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Musician of The Year (2002 and 2004) and Best Album in 2002 (for “The Bramble Briar”) under his belt, Martin Simpson truly deserves such praise

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