Martin Carthy

For more than 50 years Martin Carthy has been one of folk music's greatest innovators, one of its best loved, most enthusiastic and, at times, most quietly controversial of figures. His skill, stage presence and natural charm have won him many admirers, not only from within the folk scene, but also far beyond it.

He's a ballad singer, a ground-breaking guitarist and an authoritative interpreter of newly composed material. 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.

"Arguably the greatest English folk song performer, writer, collector and editor of them all" (Q Magazine).