Martin Carthy is a ground-breaking acoustic and electric-guitarist, He’s a ballad singer and an authoritative interpreter of newly composed material. He always prefers to follow an insatiable musical curiosity rather than cash in on his unrivalled position. Perhaps, most significant of all, are his settings of traditional songs with guitar, which have influenced a generation of artists, including Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, on both sides of the Atlantic.
Martin is also been an integral collaborator and vocalist as part of Simon Emmerson’s project, ‘The Imagined Village’ which won a 2008 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for ‘Best Track’ for ‘Cold Hailey Rainy Night’. The project also features artists such as Eliza Carthy, Jackie Oates and Johnny Kalsi. The new album will be released early next year.
Martin Carthy was awarded the MBE for services to English Music and won Singer of the Year and Best Traditional Track at the BBC Radio 2 Awards 2005.
This is what the BBC website has to say about Martin Carthy and his award:
“For four decades, Martin Carthy’s work has immeasurably enriched the British folk heritage. He is regarded as one of the finest singers and interpreters of traditional music of the British Isles, as well as a highly influential and much-imitated guitarist. Awarded the MBE for services to English folk music in 1998, his drive and enthusiasm are undiminished and he continues to be one of folk music’s great innovators.”
`Arguably the greatest English folk song performer, writer, collector and editor of them all’
Q Magazine
