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Send us your review:
Describe the atmosphere and live music at a local pub, restaurant, festival, church or temple, club night.... inspire other people to check it out!
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Musician: Martin Taylor
Location: Kirkmichael, Scotland
Instruments: guitar
Music: Scottish / Jazz
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HOW I CAME TO THIS MUSIC听听听听听听听听听听WHERE I PLAY听听听听听听听听听听A FAVOURITE SONG |
  
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 听听Listen (6'07) to 'Chez Fernand', performed by Martin Taylor and The Spirit of Django, from the album, Martin Taylor's Spirit of Django, (Linn Records, 1998)
听听Listen (2'05) to Martin Taylor talk about his music.
Where I Play:
One of my annual highlights is playing and running the Kirkmichael International Guitar Festival here in Ayreshire. The festival celebrates the guitar in all its diverse styles from classical, folk, rock and blues to jazz, bluegrass and Hawaiian music. We鈥檝e had players from all over the world including Rajan Spolia from India.
It came about in 1999 when I was asked to crown the Gala Queen at a community event. There鈥檚 such a great community spirit here and it鈥檚 very important to me to be part of that. So what better way than through a music festival. The first year we had a marquee that held 300 people and it was so popular that now we鈥檙e up to 1000. Suddenly the whole place comes alive for the weekend. I鈥檝e even had people say, 鈥楥ould you turn it up, because we were sitting in the garden and we鈥檇 like the music a bit louder!'
 We use the profits from the festival to buy some guitars for the local primary school. The first year we had enough money to buy 4 guitars, and I personally bought another 2. At this stage, we鈥檝e put something like 100 guitars into schools. This year we had over 30 children on stage at the festival who started playing guitar 3 years ago. I get a lump in my throat when I see them playing because they really put their all into it.
I love to play for people though I find the small audiences a bit nerve-wracking. Even though I鈥檝e stood up on stage on my own at Carnegie Hall in New York and played for half an hour and there wasn鈥檛 a nerve in my body, when it comes to playing for a more intimate crowd, especially for people I know, I get really nervous.
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