Photo: Simon Green
Gig Review: Dom Martin – Cranleigh Arts Centre, April 12, 2024
By Simon Green
American audiences have yet to have the chance to really get a good look at Dom Martin, apart from a few lucky folks, including those who joined the Joe Bonamassa Blues Cruise around the Mediterranean last summer. During the week of that floating festival in the sun the slightly built Northern Irish musician was able to showcase his remarkable guitar playing and singing in a number of acoustic shows as well as some full on, electrifying shows playing as a trio, one of which was a tribute to one of his early influences, the great Rory Gallagher.
What many people don’t fully appreciate is that, while of course most decent guitarists can play acoustic as well as electric guitar, very few are really proficient in both; it needs a different technique and a different sensibility to really explore what each of these two sides of the seemingly same coin can offer. Dom Martin makes both look ridiculously simple. He often plays a bit of both in the same set but, as part of what seems to be a continual touring schedule, he also frequently includes acoustic only tours, travelling light and visiting far flung parts of the UK; it was on one of these that I was lucky enough to catch him in the village of Cranleigh in the very deepest and darkest part of Surrey, far into the green belt.
Photo: Simon Green
As far as word of mouth goes, the news in the clubs of his talents has well and truly spread and everywhere I’ve seen him he’s had the audiences eating out of the palm of his hand; he receives equals measures of affection for his charismatic personality as he does for his mesmerising playing. This performance at Cranleigh Arts Centre was no exception. The venue was perfect: compact with rising seating and great acoustics; the audience was able to lean back and let the sounds produced from his fingers, as they danced across the fretboard, wash over them.
It’s fascinating watching Dom play; the instrumental parts of his songs are technically difficult and melodically intricate but even when he’s playing fast, he seems to have space in the playing that allows the subtlety of the arrangements to emerge. In fact, there’s almost no easy strumming of any kind in his songs; the guitar accompaniments are pieces in themselves. He plays with eyes closed for much of the performance of each song, very much engaged with the heavy subject matter of his songs, drawn predominantly from his own troubled personal history. It’s a cliché but, while he naturally performs a role for each performance of the bruised and tousled troubadour, there is a genuine sense that each song played is part of a cathartic process. His vocals have real power and a heartfelt quality that brings each song vividly to life. It’s been said many times but he does have a vocal timbre and delivery that is uncannily resonant of John Martyn, also one of his influences and someone he encountered towards the end of Martyn’s life. He invoked the name of that musician early in the set when introducing Martyn’s version of ‘Jelly Roll Baker’, which was noted as a particularly tricky number to master. Not that it seemed to make the guitarist sweat.
Dom Martin played songs selected from his three studio albums for his set, opening with the hypnotically beautiful cadences of ‘The Fall’ from latest release Buried In The Hail. Later in the set he switched guitars to play the rolling blues groove of ‘Daylight I Will Find’ on a resonator from the same album. Each song came with a story to introduce it, none more so than the humanistic plea of ‘Mercy’ from his first album Spain To Italy, featuring typically delicious picking. Very few performers are able to soak up the atmosphere that arises during the potentially intimidating gap in between numbers once applause has died down, but Dom Martin appears totally relaxed and able to engage in a softly challenging way that both keeps the audience on its toes while bringing them into his orbit. It’s a definite skill. He was joined halfway through by his regular bassist, the moustachioed Ben Graham, who added some light backing to add colour to songs like ’12 Gauge’.
Photo: Simon Green
The pre-encore set ended in front of a rapturous audience with the duo joined by charming support act, Demi Marriner and, another notable singer on the UK blues scene, Alice Armstrong, providing vocal accompaniment to finish off a superbly enjoyable evening of music. He’s one of those unique performers that almost everybody who sees him probably appreciates is someone who may not be always be so easily accessible. While he is, it’s a case of catch him while you can, when you can.
Dom Martin website
Watch “Here Comes The River & 12 Gauge”
Thanks to buquebusuk for the video
Very insightful review of this awesome performer. His guitar playing is on another level to everyone else, and matched by his wonderful vocals. The next gig of his is already booked!