Martin Nelson - Takamine guitarist of the year 1998

Martin Nelson lives in Narborough, Leics and does mostly his own material with a few covers. He is primarily a fingerstyle guitarist. His music is heavily influenced by the late Eric Roche and he often uses the percussive style in his songs and instrumentals.

Andy Mckee is also one of Martin’s key influences. He plays Takamine guitars and has one of their special limited edition models. He was named "Takamine Guitarist of the Year" in 1998. In 2007 he released an album entitled "Sit Back & Smile" and he has had some airplay on BBC Radio 2. A recent appearance at the Bath Guitar Festival is one of this year’s highlights for Martin and he has recently appeared at The Musician with Nigel Beck and Bob Tibbets, both of whom are Hinckley ACT regular performers.

Martin in his own words
"I started playing the guitar at a very young age and I have now been playing for nearly twenty years. I am primarily a fingerstyle guitarist although I tend to cross over into a lot of other genres.

"In 1998 I won Guitarist of the Year in a competition sponsored by Takamine guitars at the International Guitar Festival in Bath. I have since played at many prestigious venues across Europe, worked as a session guitarist for a theatrical company and more recently I have been involved in the recording of music for corporate promotional adverts and television.

"In 2003 I attended a fingerstyle work shop with Jacques Stotzem to study his unique and highly refined playing style. I have also had the honour of receiving master class tuition from one of the most innovative and dynamic guitarists of our time, the late Eric Roche. Both Jacques and Eric have had quite an influence on my playing and I am thankful that I was able to benefit from their experience.

"Over the past few years I have recorded a couple of albums. The first entitled 'Sentiments' is an album of my instrumental and neo-classical pieces. The second entitled 'Sit Back And Smile', released December 2007, is a combination of instrumental pieces and songs that I have written over the past few years, which are illustrative of the more memorable times in my life so far."

Photographs reproduced by permission of Martin Nelson and Jayne Carter.

Further information/contact
Web site: www.martinnelson.co.uk