Here are a few shots from Martin’s gig at the historic Band On The Wall in Manchester last night. An interesting gig in that he mentioned during the second half that he’s not made an album in ten years (actually, it’s closer to 13!) and that the frustrating thing about making albums is that you end up “leaving things behind” so he’s been actively revisiting some older material in recent times. This led to him playing Bruton Town, which I’ve never heard him play before, and High Germany, which he’s had in his current set on-and-off for a couple of years. None of this is new as he revisits old material consistently but I also recall that he played Streets Of Forbes (which he named ‘Ben Hall’) at his 2015 Band On The Wall gig so I wonder if this is a long preamble to some sort of recording project where he revisits older material. I could ask him of course, but where’s the fun in that?
First set: Her Servant Man John Barleycorn The Trees They Do Grow High Sir Patrick Spens The Downfall Of Paris Bill Norrie A Stitch In Time
Second set: Don’t Go In Them Lion’s Cage Tonight Long John Young Morgan Georgie Swaggering Boney Bruton Town High Germany My Son John Funeral Party (Invitation To A Funeral) Prince Heathen The Devil And The Feathery Wife (encore)
One of Martin Carthy’s more interesting recent ventures has been the Imagined Village project. The first Imagined Village album had a lengthy gestation period and their first tour – which included Billy Bragg, Sheila Chandra and video contributions from John Copper and Benjamin Zephaniah – took place in November 2007. Since then they have settled into a semi-permanent lineup that has usually only tended to fluctuate when members have been unavailable due to other commitments. The current lineup of Barney Morse Brown, Sheema Mukherjee, Jackie Oates, Simon Emmerson, Johnny Kalsi, Martin Carthy, Eliza Carthy, Ali Friend, Ged Lynch and Simon Richmond toured to promote their new album in May 2012 and the following photographs were taken at their concert at the Royal Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool on May 25th.
Postscript:
During this tour the Imagined Village asked various people to help them out by singing Chris Woods’ part in their encore of “Cold, Haily, Rainy Night” and I was lucky enough to be asked to sing at the Liverpool gig. Johnny Kalsi also wanted to get in on the act so he sang the first verse. It was the first time either of us had sung on stage but I think it’s fair to say that I was slightly more nervous than Johnny. This was also my fiftieth Martin Carthy gig of one sort or another and my big moment was caught on video. Here it is:
I’ve been watching Martin Carthy live for 25 years and during that time I’ve seen him in a number of different ensembles and lineups. But for all the excitement of the latest Waterson family project or new band lineup (see my previous Brass Monkey post, for example) it has always been his solo gigs that I’ve found most interesting and occasionally unpredictable. He’s never stopped gigging as a solo artist but in more recent years his solo shows have sometimes seemed to be further and further apart as tours with Waterson:Carthy, various Waterson family projects, The Imagined Village, Brass Monkey, Four Martins and a number of other ad-hoc ensembles have dominated his touring schedule. So it’s always nice to get the chance to see Martin on his own and catch up with his latest repertoire and these few shots are from Martin’s gig at Studio 1 in The Lowry, Salford on Sunday 15 April 2012.
It’s 30 years since Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick, Howard Evans, Roger Williams and Martin Brinsford first performed together as Brass Monkey and to mark the occasion the band are touring the UK throughout April 2012. After the death of Evans in 2006 they continued as a four-piece for a while but eventually recruited Paul Archibald as their new trumpet player in 2009. On the few occasions that Archibald’s other commitments clash with Brass Monkey dates he has been replaced by one of his former students Shane Brennan. For the April 2012 tour and for all subsequent festival dates this year the band will include both Archibald and Brennan in a unique six-piece lineup. These photographs are from their date at the Electric Theatre in Guildford, Surrey on 5 April 2012 – their third date as a six-piece.
Photographs of Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick’s “First Farewell Tour”. These are from the Bailey Suite in Rotherham, South Yorkshire on 13 October 1988.
Posted by Kevin Boyd 
Kevin Boyd