ANDY MARTIN

Born in Leigh-on-Sea,England, some 35 kms from London on the Thames estuary, Andy Martin grew up with stalwarts of the flourishing Southend and London blues and R&B scene, often known these days as "The Thames Delta", such as Gary Brooker, Robin Trower, Wilko Johnson and his great friend Mickey Jupp.

His early influences were the great American soul singers and vocal groups of that time... Otis Redding, Solomon Burke, the Isley Bros., the Coasters, Contours and the music of Booker T and the MGs.

Shortly after, Andy played with several of the leading London blues bands of the day,including Downbound Train, Mojo Hand, the Original King Snakes, the Skip Allan Band and the legendary West London Cajun/blues band, Baton Rouge, as well as backing several well-known touring US bluesmen.

Early exposure to the music of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed and Lightnin' Hopkins lead Andy on a search back into the annals of vintage Delta and Country Blues, the music he now plays and tours with across Europe.

Before going up to university (where his thesis was on the influence of Afro-American culture on literature), Andy had the chance to work as an assistant on several of the blues packages then touring Europe. This bought him into direct contact with great bluesmen like Big Joe Williams, Eddie Boyd and Champion Jack Dupree, the wonderful New Orleans pianist with whom he later toured, playing guitar and slide.

As the blues boom faded, Andy took up a position as a journalist, a vocation which in later years, saw him spending time in Moscow, Caracas, Amsterdam, Riga and San Antonio, Texas, where he lived for nine months. But blues stayed with him, and he continued to learn and study the music and play gigs wherever the job took him, a small Gibson acoustic guitar his constant companion.

Over the years, Andy has played on stage with the much-missed Jo-Anne Kelly, Sam Mitchell, Dave van Ronk, Martin Simpson, Louisiana Red, Champion Jack Dupree, Popa Chubby, Flaco Jiminez, Long John Baldry, Lazy Lester, Guitar Shorty, Rocky Lawrence and many others. He has shared the stage with John Hammond, Keb Mo', Roy Bookbinder, John Mayall, Robert Cray, Nine Below Zero, Sugar Ray Norcia, Marcia Ball etc.

Widely travelled, Andy has spent time in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana, which he visited to experience and write about Cajun music.

Since relocating to Italy some years back, Andy resumed his full-time musical career and has played most of the major Italian blues festivals, and has toured widely in Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Holland, Belgium, France and the UK.

Although he has played blues and gospel music in nearly all of its forms over the years, his greatest love remains early acoustic Delta and Country Blues.

Andy has now made six albums: Alone and Alone Again (Two Rivers Records, London), Proof of Identity (Pagina 3), Roadhouse (Lo-Fi Productions), Darker Near The Bone (Lo-Fi Productions) and his latest Chosen Ground on Pagina 3.

An accomplished and highly-rated slide guitarist with what critics have called "a beautifully expressive blues voice" and a dynamic and varied stage show, Andy has written music for film, documentaries and radio, using 6 and 12-string guitars, resophonic guitars,mandolin, Cajun accordion and harmonica.