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not really interested in things being difficult. Because it’s not an Olympic sport, guitar playing. It’s about trying to catch the emo- tionality of that piece of music. ”
“I’ve been very fortunate to spend ten years accompanying
June Tabor. And that’s gonna give you an ability as an accompanist that you’re not going to get if you don’t have that kind of good fortune. Working with June taught me to listen, and that the click track is an abomination.”
Your neighbour and album instigator Richard Hawley asks: If there was a house fire and you only had seconds to choose one, which would it be… banjo or guitar?
“It would have to be the guitar because man cannot live by banjo alone. But I would be out shopping for a banjo the next day.”
“When I was in the States, I was not always as thriving as I am
now, to put it mildly. And I’ve always had a tendency to accumu- late instruments because they’re inspiring things to have around. So I often had to sell instruments and I ended up for years not owning a banjo. And that was a really bad mistake because the banjo’s always informed what I do on the guitar. And a lot of the techniques that you use on the banjo, particularly clawhammer, if you don’t keep it up it’s really hard to do.”
How has the banjo become the pariah of trad instruments?
“It depends who you talk to. Other people would say it’s the accordeon. I mean, the definition of perfect pitch is when you throw the accordeon into a skip and it lands on the banjo. It’s that kind of thing that we have to put up with. But I can think of other instruments I really don’t like the sound of. I think I’d rather hear a bad banjo player than a bad fiddle player.”
Lost but now found folk hero and nurse appreciator Nic Jones wants to know: After all these endless years travelling around the old folk club circuit, where is the best curry house?
“You know Nic, I wish I could tell you. But I don’t find curry is the best thing for me to eat when I’m on the road so you’re more likely to find me in a good Chinese restaurant. I think there was a really good Chinese in Harrogate. But Andy Cutting would know. He pays attention to these things.”
Do you still love touring or is it simply a necessity of the job?
“I absolutely love it. I adore it. I get so much pleasure out of my relationship with the instrument and the songs and the audi- ence… I genuinely feel like the luckiest man on the planet.”
www.martinsimpson.com F
Photo: Shaun Bloodworth
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