About

Martha plays a mixture of original and traditional material, performing both to electronic backing which she creates herself, and acoustically. She can tailor her set to suit any audience, whether that is a rowdy festival crowd needing upbeat dance music, a sit-down folk club audience wanting a set of sing-along chorus songs, or anything in between! More recently, she has built up a new set for Nos Lowen dancing. The Nos Lowen is a contemporary Cornish tradition, similar to a ceilidh but more free-flowing, with simple dances (both traditional and new) that don't need a caller. For bookings, please use the contact form.

Martha has performed as a solo act and with various groups and ensembles at a wide range of venues and festivals in Cornwall (Cornwall Folk Festival, Heligan Homecoming Festival, Lowender, Lafrowda, Golowan, Lost Fest, The Cornish Bank, the Hall for Cornwall), Newcastle (The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, The Lubber Fiend, The Bridge Folk Club) and elsewhere (Gate to Southwell Festival, Sidmouth Folk Festival, Breizh Kernow Festival in Brittany, Festival Interceltique de Lorient).

Martha has released an array of EPs  and singles consisting of a mixture of original and traditional material. These are all availabe on Bandcamp, and a selection of Martha's music can also be found on Spotify and other streaming services. Myghternes a Dhons is a collection of original and traditional songs and tunes arranged for Cornish Nos Lowen dancing,  'The Hare Chase and Other Dark Tales' brings to life three historical stories from Cornwall in the form of powerful, driving electro-folk songs, 'Spring at Last' is an upbeat celebration of entirely original electro-folk songs and tunes and 'Golden Furze in Bloom' consists of four traditional/traditional-inspired songs from Cornwall and the South West with acoustic accompaniment. All of Martha's EPs are available to download and in CD form on her Bandcamp page here.

Martha has also recorded fiddle/violin, banjo and backing vocals for the projects of various other artists including North East-based vocalist Marrianne and Cornish singer-songwriter Nest of Wrens. Please enquire through the contact form if you would like Martha to play or sing for your project.

Martha is a highly skilled composer and arranger, and is equally competent in songwriting and instrumental composition. She loves composing for a wide range of purposes, and is happy to discuss commissions through the contact form.

Martha enjoys writing folk-style tunes for a variety of instruments, and three of her compositions were featured in 'Folk Tunes from the Women', a book of tunes written by 100 female composers in folk and traditional music from across the UK and Ireland, curated by Kathryn Tickell. Sheet music for many of Martha's tunes can be found on the Tunes from the Women website. Martha's tune, 'Spring at Last' has become a favourite at folk sessions in both Cornwall and the North East, and has been performed by a variety of musicians and ensembles, most notably Kathryn Tickell and Amy Thatcher.

During her degree, Martha created and composed the music for two folk-inspired musical theatre pieces: 'Arenebi' ('To Surface') which presents mermaid stories from Cornish folklore through a feminist lens, and 'Efanvos' ('Space') which explores Cornish identity and diaspora through an original story in which Cornish miners are abducted by aliens! In order to illustrate the staging of these pieces, Martha created stop-motion animated films to accompany the cast recordings containing over 20 singers, musicians and actors. Both films are available to watch on YouTube.

In 2023, Martha was chosen by music education organisation, Sing Up! for a song commission for their Big Sing event, with the theme 'Discover'. Martha's song, 'Solid, Liquid, Gas!' was sung by over 1000 primary school children from across the North of England at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead for the Big Sing in July 2024. She was chosen again in 2025 with her song 'Jupiter Jig'.

In 2024, Martha was commissioned by the Old Cornwall Society for their 'Music of the Roseland' project to re-construct and compose new tunes for two traditional songs, 'Oxen Ploughing' and 'Herring', collected on the Roseland in Cornwall. Both songs can be found on Martha's EP, 'Golden Furze in Bloom'.

Martha teaches fiddle and guitar at beginner to intermediate level, in folk/trad (English, Irish, Scottish & Cornish), bluegrass and country styles (or any mixture of these styles). She is happy to teach by ear or from notation. Please enquire about teaching using the contact form.