Martyn Joseph is a completely unique and mind-blowing artist. Take everything you think you know about singer songwriters and rip it up. For one man and a guitar he creates a performance with a huge far-reaching sound that is energetic, compelling, and passionate. Be it to two hundred people or twenty thousand, he blows the crowd away night after night.
After being signed to Sony Music in the early ’90’s, for whom he recorded 2 albums and achieved Top 40 chart success, Martyn became a trailblazer for independent musicians. He launched his own record label in 1999 forging a successful career using the internet, ahead of many other artists.
2024 kicked off with the release of a new “masterful and career defining” (Fatea UK) studio album, “This Is What I Want To Say” , along with a sell out UK tour, followed by shows in mainland Europe and North America..
In July 2024 he was invited by BBC Radio 2 for a second time to write a song as part of their brand new award winning “21st Century Folk” project, following on from the success of his 2023 track, “Albert’s Place”, which featured in the original series, and which included appearances on BBC Breakfast TV, the Jeremy Vine and Ken Bruce shows on BBC Radio 2 along with Radio 4’s World at One.
His critically acclaimed 2021 record, “1960” was made Folk Album of The Month in Mojo and awarded 4 starts by Uncut, and remained in the UK Official Folk charts for much of 2022.
In April 2019 he won a “Wales Folk Award” for “Here Come the Young”, and in 2023 he was nominated for Best Solo Artist.
He is gifted with the rare ability to speak to the soul with his expressive and poignant lyrics and has a career spanning over 40 years, 27 studio albums, over a half a million record sales and thousands of live performances.
Compared to Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer, Bruce Cockburn and Dave Matthews, he has created his own style and reputation as a mesmerising live performer and stands in his own right, built on a reputation for giving what thousands have described as the best live music experience of their lives.
A unique talent driven by passion, social awareness, and love for his trade, he's a jaw dropping guitar player who has developed a unique percussive style, teamed up with a powerful show stopping voice, and has been called “The Welsh Springsteen”.
Concerned with making music that is relevant and vital to his audience, he engages with challenging narratives tackling the complexity of the human condition, underpinned with a promise of hope. In his own words “I guess I try to write songs that can step up and speak to that given moment in time. A good song makes you feel like you’re not alone in the world.”
Martyn is also founder, along with his wife Justine, of the “Let Yourself Trust”. LYT works alongside Martyn’s music to help give profile to and fund Grassroots organisations across the globe. They have given away over a million pounds to over 20 different projects in the last 11 years.
He is hailed as a raconteur weaving tales on political and human issues, as well as stories on the fragility of love, with a magical ability to reach out to his listeners through his passion and commitment. Stunning reviews single him out as an unmissable solo performer whose music stays with you long after the show has ended.
“Martyn Joseph is who John Hammond thought he was getting when he signed Springsteen to Columbia Records in 1972”
Dave Marsh : Rolling Stone
“Stunning, heartfelt music” Bob Harris BBC Radio 2,
“Relevant, challenging and vital” Songlines
“Folk Legend” Gary Davies BBC Radio 2,
“Genuine emotional clout…and must count as one of his best” MOJO “1960” 4*
“I couldn’t help but be reminded of Springsteen’s Nebraska” Irish Music Magazine (1960 review)
“Full of treasured memories and universal themes of joy and sadness” Uncut “1960” 8/10 review
“He’s never sounded more potent than he does here”Uncut
"Intelligent and enlightened songs are both energising and provocative…from subtle tenderness to growly indignation. A Welsh national treasure” MOJO
“One of acoustic music’s most original voices, and most forward looking of his generation of singer/songwriters”
Q Magazine
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