If the English folk revival has a single guiding spirit, it is surely Martin Carthy. Apart from being a gifted guitarist, Martin is one of the British Isles' finest interpreters of traditional music: he's both a powerful singer and a prodigious arranger, with a talent for collecting fragments of songs and rendering them into unified gems. By the time he recorded his first album, in 1966, Martin was already mentor to virtually every serious aspiring folk musician in England. Three major bands -- Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and the Albion Band -- were formed with his help and influence. He also had a significant effect on two Americans: Bob Dylan, who based his song "Bob Dylan's Dream" on Martin's version of "Lord Franklin," and Paul Simon, who adopted Martin's arrangement of "Scarborough Fair" intact.

Since those days, Martin has performed with his wife Norma Waterson and her brother and sister, Mike and Lal, as a member of England's leading folk group, The Watersons, with violinist Dave Swarbrick, and with Norma and daughter Liza as Waterson:Carthy. In concert as on his recent album, Signs of Life (Topic), Martin enthusiastically follows the insatiable musical curiosity that makes him one of folk music's true greats.