Overview
Martin Carthy MBE (born 21 May 1941) is an English singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential and respected figures in English folk music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, as well as later artists such as Richard Thompson, since he emerged as a young musician in the early days of the folk revival in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s.
While not primarily a singer of maritime songs, his contribution to recovering, interpreting and popularising them as part of his vast repertoire of English Folk Music certainly justifies his inclusion in this directory.
As well as having a long and illustrious career as a solo singer, he has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972; was twice a member of British folk rock group Steeleye Span; was a member of the Albion Country Band 1973 line-up, with members from the Fairport Convention family and John Kirkpatrick, that recorded the Battle of the Field album; and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, and also a member of The Imagined Village for all three of their albums (2007–2012).
For many years Carthy enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick; more recently, Waterson:Carthy has provided the forum for his successful musical partnership with wife Norma Waterson and their daughter Eliza Carthy.
In June 1998 he was appointed an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for “The Famous Flower of Serving-Men”. In the 2007 Folk Awards Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick won Best Duo. In 2014 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. On 10 September 2025, Transform Me Then Into a Fish was announced as one of 12 nominees for the 2025 Mercury Prize.