Martyn Wylde: BARD

Founding member of popular renaissance faire act Wyldefyre, Martyn Wylde has been a professional musician and actor for nearly 40 years. His smooth tenor and astonishing 3 1/2 octave vocal range had him headed for a career in music from an early age. Rock music, particularly the “British Invasion” of the mid-1960s radically changed the direction that career was to take. Although encouraged to pursue a path toward the Broadway stage, when he first picked up a bass guitar at the age of fourteen the die was cast.

Martyn's driving, yet melodic basslines and soaring upper register vocal harmonies kept him in demand as a studio and touring musician for over three decades. In 2000 he ended a ten year long stint with southern rockers Bandit, after recording three CDs and touring extensively with the group, to try his hand at yet another musical genre; the folk music of the British Isles. Influenced by stellar British guitarists including Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, Martin Simpson and John Renbourn, Martyn plunged headlong into the study of Celtic folk music.

Whilst immersing himself in the world of Celtic folk song, Martyn realised he had undertaken not just a musical journey, but a spiritual one, as well. His studies began to include not just the music of his Celtic forebears, but also their lifestyle and belief systems. He had considered himself a neo-pagan since the early 1970's, but now began to study druidry and bardry in earnest, becoming a member of OBOD (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids) and completing it's Bardic Grade training and initiation.

Martyn's signature fingerstyle guitar and pure tenor voice have been featured on three Wyldefyre CDs, Wyldefyre (2004), All's Faire (2006) and Have Another (2008). His first solo CD, Minstrel's Lament, was released in 2009. Featuring traditional, contemporary and original material, it is a true solo CD, in that Martyn plays all the instruments (six and twelve-string guitars, fretted and fretless basses, octave mandolin/bouzouki, percussion) and sings multiple harmony and counterpoint vocals.

On the recommendation of mutual friend Craig Merlin Broers (Craig of Farrington), Martyn joined Ty Billing's Celtic Mayhem in the spring of 2007. Celtic Mayhem's 2009 self-titled debut CD, with it's emphasis primarily on staples of the Celtic repertoire ("Tom O'Bedlam", "Morgan Magan", "Spancil Hill" and more), spotlighted each band members' musical versatility. Martyn played bass, bouzouki and sang the lead vocal on "Spancil Hill" and harmony vocals throughout. Martyn's second solo album is in production and, although it will include some of the traditional songs which helped mold his style, will focus more on his own songwriting.

With an extensive repertoire culled from the rich folk traditions of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales along with his own original songs, Martyn Wylde strives to continue the legacy of the bards of olde. You can see and hear him perform live - on his own, with Wyldefyre, or with Celtic Mayhem.

Martyn Wylde performs

at renaissance,

medieval, pirate. pagan

& Celtic fairs and festivals,

pubs & clubs, house concerts,

corporate events and period weddings.

For booking information, contact:

Joan@martynwylde.com

Recent

Recordings

Minstrel's Lament

Martyn' s solo album

Have Another

Wyldefyre's third album

Celtic Mayhem

Celtic Mayhem's debut album (2009)

Appearances

With Celtic Mayhem

The Florida Renaissance Festival

Quiet Waters Park

Deerfield Beach, Florida

Weekends

February 12th - March 13th

10 AM - Sunset

St. Patrick's Day

Thursday, March 17th

FADO

Miami, Florida

10 AM - 3 PM

The Field

Dania Beach, Florida

5-8 PM

Galuppi's

Pompano Beach, Florida

9-11PM

Pirate's Well Pirate Fest

Lake Park, Florida

Saturday, April 9th 3PM - ?

With Wyldefyre

Lady of the Lakes

Renaissance Faire

Tavares, Florida

November 5th, 6th & 7th

BARD

Awen

Awen is a Welsh word for "(poetic or flowing) inspiration". It is historically used to describe the divine inspiration of bards in the Welsh poetic tradition. Someone who is inspired, as a poet or a soothsayer, is an awenydd. In current usage, awen is sometimes ascribed to musicians and poets, In Irish Gaelic, the concept is called Imbas.

In some forms of Neo-druidry the term is symbolized by an emblem showing three straight lines that spread apart as they move downward, drawn within a circle or a series of circles of varying thickness, often with a dot, or point, atop each line. The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) describe the three lines as rays emanating from three points of light, with those points representing the triple aspect of deity and, also, the points at which the sun rises on the equinoxes and solstices - known as the Triad of the Sunrises. The emblem as used by the OBOD is surrounded by three circles representing the three circles of creation

The three foundations of Awen are:

To understand truth

To love truth

To maintain truth.

(from Wikipedia, druidry.org, my head and my heart)

Martyn Wylde