An extra-special chance to hear master craftsman Martin Carthy perform and reminisce on his illustrious career in folk song to date, with musical interludes and conversation with his talented friend, musician and journalist, Jon Wilks. Martin has an insatiable musical curiosity, as well as a lifetime of wonderful stories and songs to share.
Martin Carthy is one in a million: one of folk music’s greatest innovators, one of its best loved, most enthusiastic and, at times, most quietly controversial of figures. Now aged 82, he is a consummate storyteller, singer, guitarist and oral historian renowned for his settings of traditional songs as well as his authoritative interpretations of newly composed material. His skill, stage presence and natural charm have won him many admirers from within the folk scene and beyond, including Bob Dylan and Billy Bragg.
Jon Wilks is an acclaimed fingerpicking guitarist and singer of traditional folk songs and broadside ballads from the English repertoire, and a devotee of Martin’s work. His background as a journalist (a former editor of Time Out magazine and contributor to Dazed & Confused, The Guardian and other publications, as well as the founder of the Tradfolk website) means that he has a great eye/ear for a story. The only thing he anticipates difficulty with is keeping Martin on track.