Christchurch Folk Music Club

15 June 2025

• Members $20
• Non Members $25
• Students (with ID) $5

Martin Curtis 

Originally from England, Martin got his first guitar at the age of 8. Soon afterwards he heard a new form of pop music called “skiffle” and took to it immediately. After leaving school and taking up climbing and walking, he found his interest in folk music was shared by most of his companions. From the day of his first visit to a North London Folk Club he was hooked.

Martin emigrated to Australia in 1969. Within a year he founded his own folk club and folk festival in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory. His passion for mountains brought him to New Zealand with his family in 1975. He established in the then isolated Cardrona Valley, running a horse trekking business and a small transport company. It was here in 1976 that he began songwriting and composed several ballads about the historic goldmining area in which he lived. One of these songs, “Gin & Raspberry” – named after a famous claim across the road from his house – soon became a folk club standard, and was the title track of his first album, released in 1982 and now considered a New Zealand classic!  He organised the first Cardrona Folk Festival, which proved so successful that it ran for 46 years until in 2022 he and his wife left Cardrona to settle in less- touristy Alexandra.

Martin Curtis loves giving live solo performances, and has toured widely throughout New Zealand, singing his songs from Stewart Island to Cape Reinga. He has made several TV and Radio appearances in New Zealand and overseas, and has guested at most of the music festivals around the country

Martin has toured extensively overseas, Australia in 1986, U.K. in 1987 and then a bigger tour of Britain in 1991. In all completed 14 tours of the UK, performing from Lands End to the Shetland islands. On his travels he has also given concerts in Perth, Darwin, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Norway, Austria and even Nepal. He has featured on BBC radio in Glasgow, Cardiff, Swansea, Shetland, and on Radio TV in Hong Kong. 

Commissioned by the Otago Primary Principals Association in 1998 to write a song for the schools’ 150th anniversary production at the Dunedin Town Hall (“Otago My Home”), Martin took the plunge and sold his mail contracting business in order to concentrate much more on his music. He put together a special heritage programme for schools called “Let’s Sing a Kiwi Song”, which involved the children in songs about their own country. This took him from Northland to Bluff, also included the release of an album and songbook.  

In 1989 Martin met and formed a close friendship with Graham Wardrop, a partnership that continues to this day. With Graham’s help in 1990 he recorded his 3rd album “The Daisy Patch which was a finalist in the New Zealand music awards. Since then, Graham has been an integral part of all of Martin’s albums – 10 in total, both as musician and latterly as the sound and recording engineer. They often perform together as a duo and thoroughly enjoy each other’s company.  

“Martin’s songs embody a feeling of closeness and distance, of Europeans uprooted to seek a new life on the opposite side of the world. He sings of times past and present, from the days of the Gin & Raspberry mine to the battles of the Nineties. He has added hilarious bush poems and old New Zealand songs…to create a fascinating, captivating repertoire.” South Wales Echo, Cardiff

www.martincurtis.co.nz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Curtis

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/wanaka/event-intimate-%E2%80%98revival%E2%80%99-past-folk-music-festivals

Graham Wardrop

Graham has been playing guitar and singing professionally for over fifty years. He mainly plays as a soloist but he has also accompanied many artists and played in countless bands. Recently he has performed with a number of orchestras around the country. His talent and passion for music are clearly evident through his extensive experience as a professional fingerstyle guitarist. His versatility in various music genres has allowed him to work with a diverse range of artists and to perform in concerts and festivals around in New Zealand and overseas. His dedication to his craft is further exemplified by his work in instrument crafting, demonstrating his commitment to producing the best possible sound and performance.

Graham is a unique and notable musician, songwriter and composer in New Zealand and beyond.

Rosa Shiel’s article about Graham https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/graham-wardrop

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/graham-wardrop

https://www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/graham-wardrop/discography

https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-lifestyle/star-entertainment/guitar-intimate-practice