Martin Harley

Date: Thursday, 12th November 2015
Time: 7:00 pm

Blue Sky favourite Martin Harley returns after his previous sell out shows. Get your tickets early if you fancy coming to this one!  Martin Harley is a supremely talented acoustic roots and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter with a burgeoning global reputation.  Live at Southern Ground, his eagerly anticipated new album, was recorded in Nashville in collaboration with Daniel Kimbro (Jerry Douglas, Larkin Poe) on upright bass.   As Martin explains “I wanted to make something representative of where I’m at musically at the moment with an album that reflects on the last year solo and duo touring. Daniel and I met in Knoxville through a mutual friend… he handed me his card which read… ‘alright guitar player… good upright bass player’ … an understatement on both parts!”

A mixture of retrospective solo and duo arrangements recorded during an afternoon at the esteemed Southern Ground studio in Nashville, Live at Southern Ground features Martin on Weissenborn… a traditional Hawaiian acoustic guitar played across the lap, resonators and archtops, and of course Daniel Kimbro on upright bass.

“It’s a simple, honest and direct album with no overdubs in a warm sounding room with some great microphones and two new friends playing a few songs over a cold beer or two” says Martin. “There’s a great feeling when you click with someone. It frees you up to experiment with the arrangement and the dynamic of a song.”

Live at Southern Ground follows on from Martin’s five previously acclaimed albums, most recently Mojo Fix in 2012. Along with many years of international touring and countless festivals Martin has built a strong international fan-base across the globe.  Renowned for his prowess as a slide guitarist, Martin is almost unique in the UK in his playing lap slide. During year-round worldwide touring he’s absorbed a plethora of diverse influences, honing his craft into the classic songwriting style he possesses today.

Here’s Martin a couple of years ago at Blue Sky, with an excellent version of Nobody’s Fault But Mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYfxXwUOXJ8
What others are saying about Martin:

“Awesome” – Johnnie Walker, BBC Radio 2

“Quite simply a great live act” – Time Out London

“No doubt that he is a slide guitar master. He is the business” – Roots

“Harley is a class act. Massively accomplished stuff.” Classic Rock Mag.

“It’s a fabulous mixture that brings all sorts of roots music to the table, and he’s reeled in some fantastic musicians to flesh out the songs. Harley himself is a fabulous slide guitarist & he’s definitely got enough mojo of his own.” the-rocker.co.uk

“Short bottleneck interlude in ‘Treading Water’ is delightful. Mojo Fix illustrates Harley & his musicians’ versatility. ‘Mean Old City’ draws the album to a thunderous & satisfying conclusion.” R2 Magazine

“It’s a satisfying fix of six-string mojo that deserves quality listening time” Guitarist Magazine

Tickets £12 in advance from Blue Sky Cafe or online http://www.wegottickets.com/event/321431 (10% admin fee applies) or £15 on the door on the night.

BAR ONLY. NO FOOD SERVED