Martin Bedford has been described as a legend for musicians and friends in the city of Sheffield and beyond.
It’s a measure of the respect and appreciation for the man that, after his death in November 2023 this tribute album assembles 35 local, national, international blues and roots artists. All have at one time or another played at the Honey Bee Blues club which Bedford founded in 2014.
Carl Ara, a friend of Bedford, says: "[he]was a giant of the Sheffield music scene. In the world of music, Martin was a force to be reckoned with. He had an unwavering passion for supporting unsigned bands and artists.”
As well as championing the local music scene, Bedford was known for creating eye-catching posters and artwork for gigs and artists.
The majority of the tracks combine electric and acoustic folk-blues and/or toe-trapping boogies. This is old school style music that never really goes out of fashion.
Appropriately enough, given the context here, it’s the type of sound that sounds best in a concert setting (half a dozen of the tracks are recorded live as if to make this evident).
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Nominating personal favourites probably isn't the point of a record like this but I’ll pick out five tunes that made an impression all the same:
Kelley Swindall - Hole In My Heart
Cellar Door Moon Crow - Whistler
Rhiannon Scutt Slow Drift
Sieben - Snow Burial
Chris Murphy - Halfway Around The World
The last of these is a celebratory nine-minute song about the joy of rambling recorded live with some virtuoso violin work. It closes the two hour compilation in style.
This whole labour of love was put together with the help of Bedford’s widow Nicky.
All profits go to the Sheffield charity the Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation.
Listen to the album on Bandcamp
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