The Life and Songs of Martin Carthy - Behind the Scenes
The idea of doing a tribute concert to Martin Carthy, one that he could be a part of, came to me when we were driving to a gig in Yorkshire on our tour in 2023. He was instantly resistant – he really is as humble as people say he is – so I let it lie for a while, eventually suggesting it to Eliza a week or two later. She said she’d work on him.
Jon Wilks & Martin Carthy at Manchester Folk Festival, 2023
At the time, there was another tribute to Bert Jansch taking place – a lovely thing, but yet another event that the person they were commemorating couldn’t be a part of. From the beginning, I could see Martin being a part of this – joining in when he wanted to, rather than being an observer (or worse still, not there at all). But I didn’t know how to bring it to fruition, so it sat dormant for a year or so. Sarah and James from ABM tried hard to help me, but we couldn’t get the momentum we needed, although they remained incredibly supportive and helpful throughout.
It took the involvement of Campbell from Broadside Hacks to make it a real thing.
Campbell Baum on the first morning of rehearsals at the Music Room Studio in New Cross
Whenever I’ve met and worked with Cam before, I’ve always been amazed by how achievable he makes things seem. You want a big venue? Sure, how about a massive old cinema with the most atmospheric acoustics you’ve ever heard? You want to build a pub onstage? Sure, Cam knows people who can knock that up (and from scratch, too – the bar, the tables, the sets – all built by the amazing Dan MacDonald, for whom nothing seemed overwhelming).
Between the three of us, we started cooking it up. At times, some of the ideas you saw last night seemed ridiculous, but we kind of egged each other on. The pub onstage with the working bar is a good example. Originally, I wanted a place onstage that musicians could sit and watch from. It seemed to me that it would keep things flowing and make everyone feel as though they were constantly involved rather than having to wait in a dressing room. Between Eliza and Campbell, that became a pub, and then a fantasy Martin Carthy bar (originally called the MarCarBar, before sense prevailed and it was named the North Country Maid). I was quite insistent that it had a working bar; Eliza topped that by suggesting that the barman should be Jon Boden… and in a largely silent role, too. Amazingly, Jon said yes instantly. He’s not even in the programme. For most of the show, only the most eagle-eyed spotted that it was him. Such a selfless, kind and good-humoured response. He was keen to do it because he thought it might make Martin smile.
Jon Wilks & Graham Coxon rehearsing in the stage set for the North Country Maid pub
Then it became a case of filling the pub with “easter eggs”. Could we get a piano in the pub and put a sword next to it – something for the fans who know the old Dylan stories? Nope, the budget wouldn’t allow for the hire of a piano, but we could ask Dan to build the shell of a piano and… lo and behold… Eliza still had the original samurai sword from the incident itself. Could someone chop a chunk off the piano? Better idea: let’s end the show by obliterating the piano completely. Oh, and how many of you spotted the brass monkeys on the pub tables?
Martin & Eliza Carthy after the first day of rehearsals at Music Room London, New Cross
Getting the cast together was the easy bit. We had a wishlist that was based on friends, family and people Martin talks about a lot. Nearly everyone said yes. Each person was asked to choose three or four of their favourite Martin Carthy songs, and told that we would whittle that down. I cross-checked all the songs on a big spreadsheet to make sure nobody doubled up, then we went back to the artists and asked them to make their final choices. Amazingly, only one song came up twice (Geordie). Putting accompanists together with solo singers was easy, too. Nobody said no. Everybody jumped at the chance to work with each other. Special shout out to Nick Hart and John Kirkpatrick, who bent over backwards to make things happen. And to Cam for summoning up a brass section and a score for Maid of Australia without even blinking. I’ve put the final setlist from the show at the bottom of this blog post.
Those that couldn’t make it offered to send videos instead. Receiving the video from Bob Dylan will remain one of the most surreal moments of my life. We had no idea whether Bob was going to get around to it or not… you really don’t pressure Bob. At midnight on Thursday, Eliza and I both received his video in our inboxes. I promptly shared it on our WhatsApp group. I believe the words I used were: OH. MY. FUCKING. GOD. None of us slept well that night. I think I was having heart palpitations, such was the excitement.
Bob Dylan’s tribute video to Martin Carthy, being soundchecked on the walls during rehearsals
What I really loved about the ensemble was how cross-generational it was. I often feel as though the current folk scene is divided into the older generations of musicians who have been performing for 10 years or more (often much more), and the younger bands, often in the London and Manchester areas. For whatever reason, they’ve formed their own separate scenes and the two stand quite a distance from each other. That was not the case here. We had musicians from their early 20s right up to their 80s, everyone rehearsing together and sharing the stage with such joy. There was so much bonhomie around this event, all of it generated by our shared love of Martin. I hope we see this happen more often.
Speaking of rehearsals, I think Friday may have been one of the happiest days of my life. We took over the Music Room Studios in New Cross (shout out to them for being so friendly, helpful and accommodating) and incredible musicians just kept arriving all day long, filling every part of the building and garden with glorious folk music. Nobody seemed to have egos, either. You might make the assumption that the bigger stars operate in more rarefied atmospheres… and then you see Billy Bragg popping out to the corner shop to buy everyone KitKats because Graham Coxon said he just fancied one with his cuppa.
Everyone was so keen to muck in. Nobody was precious about getting other people involved in each other’s songs, so you had Martin Simpson accompanying Marry Waterson on Fine Horseman (one of the best moments of the night), or Nick Hart throwing a bit of guitar weight behind Maid of Australia to give it more sway, or Knees Thompson making an extremely rare live appearance to accompany Graham Coxon on A Stitch in Time, or John Kirkpatrick helping out with anyone who asked him. Need an extra guitar lick? David Delarre’s got a few going spare in the garden. And our sound engineer, James, worked his socks off to make sure we got exactly what we wanted. Those rehearsals could’ve been a hugely overwhelming task, but he did it with such good humour, constantly making me laugh, that it was a delight to be around him.
Sure, the day itself was stressful. Can’t pretend it wasn’t. We had such a short amount of time to get the venue ready, and we were still clearing the stage when the audience began taking their seats. But still, there were wonderful moments. Here’s one that will stay with me for a long time: Graham Coxon and Martin Simpson (and my mum) excitedly running around to all the other musicians to get their programmes autographed. It became a frenzy, everyone grappling over what seemed to be the only Sharpie in the building. Selfies briefly went out of fashion; everyone became an autograph collector once more. Again, it’s so easy to think that well-known musicians are on some other level, but they’re really just music geeks who have let their obsessions run away with them and somehow turned it into a career. Normal people doing normal things like getting excited about being around other musicians that they adore. They’re just the same as you and me.
People keep saying to me, “It must’ve been so much work.” Yes, it was a lot of work, but it was shared by a lot of people who gave up their time to make it work because they love Martin Carthy so much and wanted to show him what his music has meant to them. And because of that, it was never a chore. That includes the incredible audience, who were on their feet in support of the great man from the moment I helped him onto the stage. And you’ve all seen the videos and photos that have started being shared today. Look at the smile on him. Did you ever see a chap so happy? Dreams do come true.
My huge thanks to everyone who made it so easy. Cam, Eliza, Martin, Martin Simpson, Goblin Band, Jon Boden, Lileth Chinn, Finlay Burrows, Angeline Morrison, Dan MacDonald, Nick Hart, Liz Lenten, Graham, John Kirkpatrick, Billy Bragg, Emily Portman, Jackie Oates, Sam Grassie, Maddy Prior, Marry Waterson, Tim Van Eycken, Olivia Chaney, Dave Delarre, James Brown, Hamilton Gross, Barney Morse-Brown, James, Adrian and Albert on sound. Ian A. Anderson for opening up his fRoots photo archive. Joe Boyd for his wonderful opening speech, his help and his encouragement. Hana, Kai, Finn, Izzy… everyone played a part. What a night.
The Imagined Village take the stage at the Martin Carthy tribute concert, 2025
The Life & Songs of Martin Carthy - the tribute concert setlist
| Song | Performer(s) |
|---|---|
| Intro speech | Joe Boyd |
| Rock Island Line | Billy Bragg |
| Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O | Billy Bragg |
| High Germany | Martin Carthy |
| Lovely Joan | Martin Carthy |
| Scarborough Fair | Jon Wilks & Graham Coxon |
| The Trees They Do Grow High | Graham Coxon |
| A Stitch in Time | Graham Coxon & Knees Thompson |
| Sovay | Olivia Chaney |
| Queen of Hearts | Olivia Chaney |
| Palaces of Gold | Martin Simpson |
| Polly On the Shore | Martin Simpson |
| Famous Flower of Serving Men | Nick Hart |
| Interval | |
| Tribute videos montage | KT Tunstall, Paul Brady, Jools Holland, Van Dyke Parks, Paul Weller, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan |
| Willie's Lady | Goblin Band |
| Geordie | Goblin Band |
| North Country Maid | Emily Portman & Jackie Oates |
| Our Captain Cried All Hands | Emily Portman & Martin Simpson |
| Fine Horseman | Marry Waterson & Martin Simpson |
| Red Wine Promises | Eliza Carthy & Graham Coxon |
| The Wensleydale Lad | James Brown, Spitzer Space Telescope, Marry Waterson & Eliza Carthy |
| Banks of Green Willow | John Kirkpatrick |
| Ladies of Pleasure | Hammersmith Morris & John Kirkpatrick |
| The Blacksmith | Campbell Baum, Lileth Chinn, Spitzer Space Telescope, Finlay Burrows |
| Cold, Haily, Windy Night | Campbell Baum, Lileth Chinn, Spitzer Space Telescope, Finlay Burrows |
| Interval | |
| Intro | Jon Boden – I Sowed Some Seeds |
| Lark in the Morning | Maddy Prior, John Kirkpatrick & Dave Delarre |
| The Bedmaking | Maddy Prior, John Kirkpatrick & Dave Delarre |
| La Cardeuse | Dave Delarre |
| Jack Frost | Eliza Carthy, Dave Delarre, Marry Waterson, Emily Portman, Lauren McCormick |
| When First I Came to Caledonia | Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Tim Van Eycken & Jon Wilks |
| The Brown Girl | Angeline Morrison & Hamilton Gross |
| A Ship to Old England Came | Jackie Oates & Nick Hart |
| Riding Down to Portsmouth | Nick Hart & John Kirkpatrick |
| Maid of Australia | Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick, Nick Hart, Vincent Curson-Smith, Nat Phillips & Jess Bull-Anderson |
| John Barleycorn | Imagined Village |
| Hard Times of Old England / England Half English | Imagined Village |
| Encore | |
| Bright Phoebus | Ensemble |
| Some Old Salty | Ensemble |
