Music

Martin Simpson

Rooted

Topic Records

A tempestuous journey through rich folk landscapes

A new album from folk stalwart and guitar virtuoso Martin Simpson is always a major event in the calendar. “The music and songs embrace nature and travel, mental health, real-life stories, loss, politics and history…” he tells us. “Threads that bind all this together can be followed back a long way, to 1965 when I got my first guitar and started to soak up material and ideas at a very rapid rate.”

Available in both standard and deluxe formats (the latter comprises 13 tracks delivered on an eclectic collection of instruments. Along the way, Martin plays banjola, five-string banjo, six-string fretless banjo, electric, acoustic and resonator guitars as only he can. In the case of the album’s second track, , he plays a Martin D-28 that cult artist Jackson C Frank wrote and recorded the staple folk track , a song that has featured on Martin’s previous album, .