Eddie Martin interview

01:30 - Eddie was born in London and now lives in Frome, Somerset

01:47 - Has been described as the ‘ambassador of British Blues’, and has been playing since age 16, almost fifty years

01:59 - Started playing guitar a year before the harmonica

02:21 - Although is known as a blues player, Eddie thinks of himself as a songwriter, who writes mainly in the blues form

02:26 - Grew up in era of classic British blues rock, blues and folk music, including Woodie Guthrie and Bob Dylan

02:52 - Instrumental skills have always been to serve the song

03:31 - Example of some of the great lyrics Eddie has written: Kind Lady Moon and Like Water

05:04 - Thirst album was produced by Eddie and was influenced by The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album

05:48 - Eddie works as a one-band, playing harmonica, guitar, vocals and percussion, as well as in his own band

06:18 - Started playing rack harmonica early on in his formative years, as a means to support song writing along with guitar

06:43 - Also played a lot of hand-held harmonica (off the rack)

07:01 - Other rack harmonica players Eddie heard tended to play simple first position stuff

08:03 - American folk rack harmonica of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, and learning for their approach to playing harmonica

08:41 - Did Eddie learn harmonica initially both on the rack, and off-rack

09:34 - Early on wanted to forge his own approach to rack playing

09:58 - Tongue blocking wasn’t used by many of the earlier rack players, and Eddie was keen to incorporate that into his playing

10:36 - Had planned to do an album entirely using rack harmonica, but the songwriter in Eddie always got in the way of that

10:52 - Eddie practised the guitar and rack harmonica together, not working on them separately

12:22 - Playing simultaneous solos on harmonica and guitar

13:00 - Doing two different things on harmonica and guitar: Eddie thinks he has the ability to do this, which not everybody has

13:34 - Importance of getting a good rack to use, that is stable, and adjustable to the correct height for you

14:05 - Modified his own racks when he started out and there weren’t so many good options as there are now

14:30 - Has adapted playing on a rack over the years to a level where he can use the cheaper ones now

15:02 - Hohner Flexirack is the one that Eddie recommends to starting rack players

15:37 - How Eddie positions the rack so it doesn’t get in the way of singing, with the height being important

16:32 - Although is known for playing harmonica on a rack, is also an excellent player holding the harmonica in hands

17:00 - What proportion does Eddie play rack versus non-rack?

17:27 - Has a showpiece where plays electric guitar in one hand while holding harmonica in the other

18:57 - Singing was the first musical pursuit when young, singing in the choir at school

19:19 - Thinks have a good tone to your voice helps in having a good harmonica tone

20:26 - Started as a semi-pro musician from age 18, turning professional in his thirties when started getting nominated for some awards

21:07 - First CD album was Solo in Soho, from 1995 (after an earlier album just released on cassette)

21:51 - First album was as one-man band, but always wanted to be in a band as well, and has done both throughout his career

22:04 - One of reasons initially took up playing the rack is because couldn’t find the musicians in Bristol to play the other parts of his songs

23:13 - Has three different outfits now: solo, trio and larger band

23:22 - Second album: Blue To The Bone album (1997) is with Eddie’s band

23:48 - Has his own record label, Blueblood Records, and released and produced all his own albums on there

25:05 - Had some other artists on the record label

25:19 - How produced and recorded own albums

25:43 - Blue To The Bone album was produced alongside Dick Heckstall-Smith, a previous member of the John Mayall Blues Band, and Pete Brown, lyricist for Cream

26:27 - Spent two years in the US, first touring with his British band in the East

27:36 - Formed a band with an American rhythm section, who also toured with in Europe too

28:33 - Played solo shows in the US and got some residencies on Beale St, Memphis and Clarksdale, Mississippi

28:54 - American audience responded well to Eddie playing the blues over there, with Eddie a humble student of the blues while in the US

30:17 - Two compilation albums of first 25 years of Eddie’s career: Blues Took Me By The Hand, volumes 1 and 2

30:38 - Spent some time in Italy, recording with a band he formed called Big Red Radio, including a gospel choir

31:45 - With this band used traditional blues instruments while bringing in the dynamics of rock music

32:32 - How the project came together in Italy

33:04 - Released seventeen albums under own name

33:11 - Thirst album with song One Man Band, played with a full band

34:04 - The Birdcage Sessions album, released in 2021 during the Covid pandemic and recorded at Eddie’s home

34:40 - Birdcage Sessions won European Blues album of the year from Mojo magazine, as selected by Tony Russell

35:26 - Happy Broke and Free song from Birdcage Sessions album

36:21 - Decision on which songs to include harmonica on

37:11 - When recording an album, Eddie might play harmonica on a rack to get a live feel, but recording on a rack can be problematic in the studio

38:31 - Recorded using the Chess technique of playing in a room with lots of natural reverb and using a second mic to capture the room reverb, as was done with some Little Walter recordings

39:36 - Has played with some great musicians, including Honeyboy Edwards, John Mayall, Paul Jones and others

41:02 - Has toured in 35 different countries

41:11 - Eddie runs lots of workshops, including a rack workshop at the Harmonica Masters in Trossingen in October 2024

41:43 - Teaching at the Euroblues Week in the UK in 2024

42:10 - Appeared at Harpin’ By The Sea near Brighton in the UK in 2024

42:43 - Appearance at the UK NHL festival in 2006

43:07 - Likes to teach and share his knowledge and does a little private teaching too

43:50 - Awards won by Eddie include Best Solo/Acoustic Artist in the European Blues Awards

44:34 - 10 minute question

46:22 - Lost mojo to write new music during the pandemic, and took up painting at this time but has got back into playing and hopes to record another album soon

47:11 - Challenge of making money back from making albums

47:39 - Doesn’t push for lots of gigs at the moment due to family circumstances, but plans to start playing out more in 2025

48:41 - Harmonicas of choice are the different flavours of Marine Bands and the Rocket

49:04 - Plays some chromatic, including on the rack (without using the button)

49:47 - Different positions Eddie uses to fit the songs he writes

50:39 - Overblows: not used much but has been playing them recently and likes the overblow on 6 blow for the minor third

51:07 - Does a little set-up of harps himself, but not too much

51:53 - Embouchre: uses some puckering and tongue block

52:15 - Amps: doesn’t play much amplified rack harmonica anymore, but still loves amped harmonica

53:28 - Sometimes plays as a sideman harmonica player, which he loves to do

53:55 - Owns several tube amps and vintage mics and likes the different varieties of vintage mics

54:52 - Lately has acquired a Shure 521 mic

55:19 - Effects: just some slap echo

55:41 - Uses SM58 vocal mic when playing acoustic harmonica

56:04 - Big fan of Son of Dave and the range of effects he uses