An evening with revered English folk performer Martin Simpson, a master of acoustic and slide guitar.
Martin Simpson plays the Traverse Theatre on Monday 16 November, as part of the Music at the Traverse series. He's an English folk performer who's spent decades working with acoustic and slide guitar, and this is a solo evening around that. If you're not familiar with the name, he's one of the more widely acknowledged acoustic and slide players in the world, and his interpretations of traditional songs are regarded as masterpieces of storytelling.
That's the core of what he does: taking old songs and finding a way into them that feels personal rather than just a cover. The slide guitar is a big part of that sound, and it's something he's built a reputation on. The set is built around his voice and his guitar, with the storytelling taking centre stage. It's folk in the truest sense — old songs, a single performer, and a focus on the lyrics.
He's described as one of England's most revered folk performers, and that's a fair summary of where he sits in the scene. The slide guitar is the thing he's most known for, and it's what sets his playing apart from a lot of other acoustic folk. The storytelling comes from the way he handles traditional songs, turning them into something that feels like it belongs in the room rather than something being preserved from the past.
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It's a solo night, so it's just him on stage. The gig is at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, starting at 8pm on Monday 16 November.
