Martin Simpson

Martin Simpson plays a solo concert at the National Centre for Early Music on Tuesday 20 October, from 7.30pm to around 9.30pm. He's one of England's most respected folk performers, and he's widely known as one of the finest acoustic and slide guitar players in the world. The night is a solo show, so it's just him and his guitar.

Much of what he does comes from traditional songs, which he treats as storytelling. His own songwriting has turned out gems like 'Love Never Dies' and 'Never Any Good'. Over the years he's recorded and shared stages with June Tabor, Kelly Joe Phelps, Jackson Browne, Danú, Martin Carthy and Cara Dillon. The BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards have nominated him 32 times over 18 years — more than any other performer — and he was named Musician of the Year in 2002 and 2005. The Guardian called him 'one of the virtuoso instrumentalists of the English music scene'.

His solo shows are described as intense, eclectic, spellbinding and deeply moving, and the traditional songs he interprets are called masterpieces of storytelling. It's a night that sits at the intersection of folk tradition and high-level guitar playing, with the slide work that's become his trademark. Tickets are £24, with concessions at £22 and under-35s at £8. The venue is the National Centre for Early Music on Percy's Lane, York YO1 9TL.