A Brief Biography!

Born in Durham, raised in Dorset and Kent and now based in Nottingham Simon Jackson is an acoustic guitar virtuoso, singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist working in the English folk tradition.

His first exposure to folk music came from the recordings of Whippersnapper and the folk clubs of the South East of England. He first went to folk clubs for the performance opportunities and almost immediately fell in love with the music and the atmosphere of the places.

He got his first guitar at eleven and took classical guitar lessons at school. While continuing classical studies to a high level he also became interested in early blues, flamenco, rock and funk. He ended up getting a first class degree in jazz at the City of Leeds College of Music in 1998, but folk music has always been his passion and he has got along to local clubs wherever he has lived.

His folk guitar influences come from Steve Tilston, Kevin Dempsey, Isaac Guillory, John Martyn, Martin Carthy and Martin Simpson, but you can certainly hear traces of Davy Graham, Pierre Bensusan and Jon Renbourn in his playing along with flamenco and Irish traditions.

In live performance Simon has a direct emotional connection and a relaxed manner. You can expect traditional English alongside songs by Maggie Holland and Huw Williams, and his own songs and instrumentals. A particular feature of Simon’s work is the carefully crafted guitar arrangements.

Having over twenty years experience in teaching guitar, three years classroom music teaching and a successful guitar tutor book out, make Simon an ideal festival or club guitar workshop leader.

The last few years saw Simon putting together a band tangata to play his tunes. fROOTS magazine called it “... a vibrant take on European folk and roots traditions and a nice line in world-influenced, jazz-inflected Celtic tunesmithery (and songs)”. Playing at a few festivals and lots of pubs the band always went down well. It’s hard keeping a band going, so that project is on the back boiler for now and Simon is concentrating on a solo career in the folk club and festivals circuit. Hopefully there’ll be an opportunity to get tangata back out one day. In the meantime you can find out about the band and have a listen here tangata or on the MySpace site here.




	A Brief Biography! Born in Durham, raised in Dorset and Kent and now based in Nottingham Simon Jackson is an acoustic guitar virtuoso, singer, songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist working in the English folk tradition. His first exposure to folk music came from the recordings of Whippersnapper and the folk clubs of the South East of England. He first went to folk clubs for the performance opportunities and almost immediately fell in love with the music and the atmosphere of the places. He got his first guitar at eleven and took classical guitar lessons at school. While continuing classical studies to a high level he also became interested in early blues, flamenco, rock and funk. He ended up getting a first class degree in jazz at the City of Leeds College of Music in 1998, but folk music has always been his passion and he has got along to local clubs wherever he has lived. His folk guitar influences come from Steve Tilston, Kevin Dempsey, Isaac Guillory, John Martyn, Martin Carthy and Martin Simpson, but you can certainly hear traces of Davy Graham, Pierre Bensusan and Jon Renbourn in his playing along with flamenco and Irish traditions. In live performance Simon has a direct emotional connection and a relaxed manner. You can expect traditional English alongside songs by Maggie Holland and Huw Williams, and his own songs and instrumentals. A particular feature of Simon’s work is the carefully crafted guitar arrangements. Having over twenty years experience in teaching guitar, three years classroom music teaching and a successful guitar tutor book out, make Simon an ideal festival or club guitar workshop leader. The last few years saw Simon putting together a band tangata to play his tunes. fROOTS magazine called it “... a vibrant take on European folk and roots traditions and a nice line in world-influenced, jazz-inflected Celtic tunesmithery (and songs)”. Playing at a few festivals and lots of pubs the band always went down well. It’s hard keeping a band going, so that project is on the back boiler for now and Simon is concentrating on a solo career in the folk club and festivals circuit. Hopefully there’ll be an opportunity to get tangata back out one day. In the meantime you can find out about the band and have a listen here tangata or on the MySpace site here.