Martin Simpson @ St Edith Hall, Kemsing

Bob-Dubery

I remember a discussion a while back on GFSA about whether or not you should talk between songs. After seeing Martin Simpson I give a qualified "yes" answer. Simpson precedes almost every song with anecdotes about the song itself (in the case of traditional numbers), the guys who wrote it, how he himself came to write it etc. Sometimes he fits the song into a specific historic context. This helps to make the songs not just songs but little slices of life and history. It's fascinating to hear him talk about really witnessing the scene that he describes in the first verse of his song "Love Never Dies" - a redneck, a broken down car, a tee shirt featuring two skeletons in an amorous clinch....

The other fascinating thing that goes on between songs in a Simpson show is the noodling and tuning. The stuff this guy just throws away whilst checking his guitar is in tune is better than some folks's solos! It's kind of like the old story about Ravi Shankar getting a massive round of applause for some piece of playing and thanking the audience and explaining that he was just tuning.

OK... so what was the SHOW like? Very good, is the answer.

It was a solo show. Last time I saw him was with his band. So this time we get less soloing and more story telling, but don't for moment jump to the conclusion that "less soloing" means there wasn't some guitar magic on show! His arrangements are excellent and the execution brilliant. Even when he took the crowd pleaser "Duncan and Brady" at breakneck place there was nothing blurred or indistinct in his playing - every note rang true and clear. And on some songs he really let then notes ring and then would stop everything all at one time. Doing this repeatedly puts a great percussive quality into his playing.

That great flowing sound of his was in abundance. I think that what he's doing is the technique that I recently read Tony Rice talking about. Rice was saying (I'll try to find the interview when I'm back home in a couple of days) that one of the key things to master is that every hammer and every pull - even if you're playing consecutive multiple hammers and pulls - must be as loud as if you played the note using the pick. I've tried watching Simpson's right hand, and there's no doubt that he puts huge energy into the strings, but that doesn't explain all of that ....err.... liquidity.

He had just one guitar and one banjo with him. I'd guess about a 1/3 of the show was on banjo - including his tributes to two musicians he admired greatly, "Banjo Bill" Cornett ("Banjo Bill") and Mike Waterson ("Don't Leave Your Banjo in the Shed, Mr Waterson"). The banjo was a custom made job by a not well known maker (he mentioned the name but I wasn't taking notes). The guitar was easier - the new Martin Simpson signature model PRS. This guitar has some serious mojo, especially down at the bottom end where it rang like a bell (though having a Martin Simpson attached probably makes many guitars sound better). I was trying to figure out the tunings.... He seemed to have C and G on the 6 and 5 strings and mostly retune 1,2 and 3. Other than that I have no idea. He used a Shubb partial capo (the 5 string one) on a couple of numbers.

Both instruments had on board electronics that went into a D-Tarr pre-amp/DI. From there into the PA. Nice and simple - the magic is in the playing, not the gear.

Like I said, I didn't take notes and thus don't have a set list. We got there early, and got in the front row and so I just sat and enjoyed the set. For the Simpson fans out there I can tell you that he definitely included the following: "Duncan and Brady", "Love Never Dies", "Brothers Under The Bridge", "Banjo Bill", "Don't Leave Your Banjo in the Shed, Mr Waterson", "Three Day Millionaire", "Bold General Wolfe", "Never Any Good", "Louisiana 1927", "An Englishman Abroad" and "Will Atkinson".

Squonk

Good Stuff Bob - Great Reveiw

You didn't drop any hints about Martin coming over to South Africa? TJ's might be a good venue....

My next trip to the UK will coincide with a Martin Simpson concert.

Bob-Dubery

Squonk wrote: Good Stuff Bob - Great Reveiw

You didn't drop any hints about Martin coming over to South Africa? TJ's might be a good venue....

You'd get the standard answer: "A promoter needs to contact me." Tony Cox is looking to bring out top notch acoustic players for his "International Guitar Night" series, so I've dropped Tony a line about Simpson. If he gets a few more...

My next trip to the UK will coincide with a Martin Simpson concert.

He does a lot of things. He runs at least one camp a year in the UK, is repeating the camp he did this year with Richard Thompson in New York state, and tours in various combinations. I was hoping to catch one of the duo shows he did this year with Martin Taylor, but that was not be :'(