I first met Martin Simpson almost 19 years ago and he has become a great friend and also a massive influence on my own work. I first attended one of his workshops in the UK and then met on a regular basis for 1 – 1 sessions, each lasting two hours. This continues to be a terrific learning opportunity about the reality of working in the music business as well as a treasure trove of musical exploration. He’s an outstanding musician and equally at home of both acoustic and electric instruments.
He’s a mind blowing player and on first meeting him I commented “I feel equally inspired and depressed!” Inspired as I was able to see just what was possible and for a short moment depressed as I was able to see just how much I had to learn. That said, his influence propelled me to record a series of albums and to explore altered tunings.
He’s also the best ukulele player I have ever seen by a mile.
Musical support and the Music for the Head & Heart May showcase
Martin Simpson is a great supporter of other music lovers and is constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible musically. He is generous with his time and a terrific songwriter with a real love of music. We have spent many hours talking about songs, instruments and the music business. I have over 100 hours of unique video of our discussions and some amazing clips of him playing. This May Martin will be headlining the Music for Head and Heart showcase at The Old Woollen in Leeds and we just filmed some promotional video for the event.
