Martin harley
Encyclopedia
Martin Harley is a British
singer-songwriter
and slide guitar
ist. Specialising in folk
and blues
, he and his band have released four albums between 2003 and 2010.
, Surrey
, England
as a small child.
He is the founder of The Martin Harley Band, a British
blues trio. The band has a diverse appeal, attracting blues fans as well as a cult following amongst surfers. This may be due to tours and support slots with G. Love & Special Sauce
, Ash Grunwald
, Newton Faulkner
and Donovan Frankenreiter, Carus and The True Believers
and The Beautiful Girls
.
The band are renowned for their live concerts and the obscure instrumentation they use, which includes a Weissenborn
guitar, balalaika
, cocktail drumkit, cajon
and double bass
. To date they have released three album
s, all of which have been released on independent record label
s with national distribution.
The Martin Harley Band are a regularly touring ensemble
, and have toured with James Morrison
, appeared on BBC Radio 2
on the Aled Jones
, Bob Harris
and Johnnie Walker
shows. Harley has also been interviewed by Guitarist
magazine, and featured in a three DVD set providing slide guitar tips and tricks.
The band are favourites of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
, and have played several gigs at River Cottage H.Q.
, and appeared on a charity compilation album sold to raise money for Rural Revival and CARE International.
Harley is currently endorsed by the luthier
, Andreas Cuntz.
as the 'Highest Gig in the World', playing at 21,000 feet up Kala Patthar
in the Himalayas
. For this concert Harley was endorsed by Blueridge Guitars. In early 2007, he spent six weeks wandering though Mali
, Guinea
and Senegal
in the company of some of those country's musicians. The event was recorded by a French
film crew, and a CD and DVD is scheduled for release. One of the sessions included Vieux Farka Toure
.
In 2010, Harley undertook the "Blues Gone Green Tour", a 27 show, 1,200 mile acoustic tour of the UK by bicycle over thirty one days. The tour was supported by Sustrans
, Villages in Action plus the Rural Touring Circuit and Surly Bikes
.
's Tim's House, Fink
's Biscuits for Breakfast
, and Hardkandy's Second to None.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
ist. Specialising in folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, he and his band have released four albums between 2003 and 2010.
Career
Harley moved with his family to WokingWoking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as a small child.
He is the founder of The Martin Harley Band, a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
blues trio. The band has a diverse appeal, attracting blues fans as well as a cult following amongst surfers. This may be due to tours and support slots with G. Love & Special Sauce
G. Love & Special Sauce
G. Love & Special Sauce is an alternative hip-hop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are known for their unique, "sloppy", and "laid back" blues sound that encompasses classic R&B. The band features Garrett Dutton, better known as G...
, Ash Grunwald
Ash Grunwald
Ash Grunwald is an Australian radio announcer and blues musician.-Early career:...
, Newton Faulkner
Newton Faulkner
Sam Newton Battenberg Faulkner is an English singer-songwriter and musician from Reigate, Surrey. Known for his guitar playing, which involves rhythmically tapping and hitting his guitar's body, Faulkner came to prominence in 2007, with the release of his debut studio album, Hand Built by Robots...
and Donovan Frankenreiter, Carus and The True Believers
Carus and The True Believers
Carus and The True Believers are an Australian folk/country/roots/reggae band based in Melbourne, Australia. The band which was formed in 1995 has since risen to national prominence as a major band on the new roots-folk scene and are beginning to develop a loyal fan base in Europe and North America...
and The Beautiful Girls
The Beautiful Girls
The Beautiful Girls are an Australian band, predominantly playing roots music. They have released three EPs, Morning Sun, Goodtimes and Weight Of The World. Plus four full length albums, Learn Yourself, We're Already Gone, Ziggurats and Spooks. They played at Dusty Days on 15 March 2008 in Wagga...
.
The band are renowned for their live concerts and the obscure instrumentation they use, which includes a Weissenborn
Weissenborn
Weissenborn or H. Weissenborn is a brand of lap slide guitar manufactured by Hermann Weissenborn in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s....
guitar, balalaika
Balalaika
The balalaika is a stringed musical instrument popular in Russia, with a characteristic triangular body and three strings.The balalaika family of instruments includes instruments of various sizes, from the highest-pitched to the lowest, the prima balalaika, secunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass...
, cocktail drumkit, cajon
Cajón
A cajón is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front face with the hands.-Origins and evolution:...
and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. To date they have released three album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s, all of which have been released on independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
s with national distribution.
The Martin Harley Band are a regularly touring ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
, and have toured with James Morrison
James Morrison
James Morrison is the name of:In music:* James Morrison , English singer/songwriter* James Morrison , Irish fiddler* Jim Morrison , poet and lead singer of The Doors...
, appeared on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
on the Aled Jones
Aled Jones
Aled Jones is a Welsh singer and television/radio personality, broadcaster and television presenter who first came to fame as a treble...
, Bob Harris
Bob Harris (radio)
Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...
and Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker (DJ)
Johnnie Walker MBE is a popular British veteran radio disc jockey and broadcaster....
shows. Harley has also been interviewed by Guitarist
Guitarist (magazine)
Guitarist is a monthly music making magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. The magazine features reviews of newly released guitars, amplifiers and other equipment, plus interviews with guitar players, features on the guitar industry, news articles, and features on playing...
magazine, and featured in a three DVD set providing slide guitar tips and tricks.
The band are favourites of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a British celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer and "real food" campaigner, known for his back-to-basics philosophy...
, and have played several gigs at River Cottage H.Q.
River Cottage H.Q.
River Cottage H.Q. is the base of operations for a cookery/food training centre from chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage series.-River Cottage H.Q.:...
, and appeared on a charity compilation album sold to raise money for Rural Revival and CARE International.
Harley is currently endorsed by the luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
, Andreas Cuntz.
Travel
In 2005 Harley took part in what has been recognised by Guinness World RecordsGuinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
as the 'Highest Gig in the World', playing at 21,000 feet up Kala Patthar
Kala Patthar
Kala Patthar, meaning 'black rock' in Nepali and Hindi, is a mountain in the Nepalese Himalayas. It appears as a big brown bump below the impressive south face of Pumori . Many trekkers in the region of Mount Everest will attempt to summit Kala Patthar, since it provides the most accessible point...
in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. For this concert Harley was endorsed by Blueridge Guitars. In early 2007, he spent six weeks wandering though Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
and Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
in the company of some of those country's musicians. The event was recorded by a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
film crew, and a CD and DVD is scheduled for release. One of the sessions included Vieux Farka Toure
Vieux Farka Touré
Boureima "Vieux" Farka Touré is a Malian singer and guitarist. He is the son of Grammy-winning Malian musician Ali Farka Touré.-Biography:Touré was born in Niafunké, Mali in 1981 to Ali Farka Touré...
.
In 2010, Harley undertook the "Blues Gone Green Tour", a 27 show, 1,200 mile acoustic tour of the UK by bicycle over thirty one days. The tour was supported by Sustrans
Sustrans
Sustrans is a British charity to promote sustainable transport. The charity is currently working on a number of practical projects to encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport, to give people the choice of "travelling in ways that benefit their health and the environment"...
, Villages in Action plus the Rural Touring Circuit and Surly Bikes
Surly Bikes
Surly Bikes is a designer and importer of bicycles, frames, parts, and accessories based in Bloomington, Minnesota, established circa 1998. Surly is owned by and shares facilities with Quality Bicycle Products ....
.
Collaborations
Harley's slide guitar work can also be heard on Kate WalshKate Walsh (singer)
Kate Walsh is an English singer from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex.A graduate of the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, her first album was Clocktower Park , released in 2003 by Kitchenware Records. The album was named for a meeting place in her home town. In 2007, she released her second album, Tim's...
's Tim's House, Fink
Fink (music)
Fink, AKA Fin Greenall, is an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and DJ from St. Ives, currently based in Brighton. Since 2006, the name Fink has also referred to the recording and touring trio fronted by Greenall himself, completed by Guy Whittaker and Tim Thornton . Fink is signed...
's Biscuits for Breakfast
Biscuits for Breakfast
Biscuits for Breakfast is the second album from British musician Fin Greenall and, collectively as Fink, the band's debut album. It was released on the 24th of April 2006.-Background:...
, and Hardkandy's Second to None.
Discography
- Martin Harley (2003) (self release)
- Money Don't Matter (2005) Transistor Records
- Grow Your Own (2008) - mastered by Bob KatzBob KatzBob Katz is an audio mastering engineer who is known for his book on audio mastering. Katz has mastered three Grammy award-winning albums and one nominated album. He has received acclaim from audiophiles and his book on mastering has received acclaim, and some reviewers consider it the "definitive...
. - Drumrolls for Sommersaults (2010) Villainous Records - produced by Nigel StonierNigel StonierNigel Stonier is a UK based rock, roots and pop producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.-Biography:He was born in Cheshire, but first relocated to London when, at the age of seventeen he secured a publishing deal with Southern music, and recorded his first demos produced by Dave Cousins of...
and featuring Thea GilmoreThea GilmoreThea Eve Gilmore is a British female singer-songwriter. She began her career working in a recording studio, where she was discovered by her now long-time collaborator, producer and sometime co-songwriter Nigel Stonier, whom she married in October 2005.-Career:Gilmore was born in Oxford to Irish...
on the track "Hand to Hold".