It's baby blues for Eddie

It's not very rock'n'roll but then Eddie Martin doesn't claim to be a rock star. Instead, he's a blues musician, so it's therefore perfectly acceptable for him to take a pause in our conversation to put a Pinochio DVD on for his four-year-old son.

"It's a welcome respite from Thomas The Tank Engine, to be honest," says the multi-instrumentalist, who's coming to Pocklington this week.

"But he's started to get into music a bit more now, which is very welcome. Hopefully, the next step is for him to want to play."

And it would make perfect sense for the son of Eddie Martin to become a musician. Eddie himself is something of a one-man band, playing the guitar, harmonica and drums as a highly-acclaimed soloist, while also fronting his own band and big band.

His first gig was as a 15-year-old when he performed for his family on Christmas Day – hardly the most momentous of debuts but it was the launch-pad of an international career.

He has played with the likes of English blues star John Mayall and five-time Grammy Award-winning guitarist and singer, Buddy Guy, toured the US twice, performed at the prestigious Cahors Blues Festival, in France, and judged the World Harmonica Festival, in Germany.

Last week, he spent two nights playing in blues clubs in Rotterdam and Antwerp, set up by his new promoter in Holland and Belgium,

"It was a really good and well organised," says Eddie. "The last thing you want when you are operating on a tight schedule is to get to a hotel and realise there's no reservation.

"When you're younger and living on excitement and adrenaline, you'll sleep anywhere, but those days are long behind me now.

"It's hardly rock'n'roll to want a comfy bed but I've served my time as a youngster who'll put up with practically anything to make it big."

However, they say with age comes wisdom and Eddie will be making the most of his experience at Pocklington Art Centre next weekend.

Working alongside fellow musicians and members of the European Blues Association, Michael Messer and Michael Roach, Eddie will take part in a series of acoustic performances and workshops on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

He will be teaching the harmonica while Messer and Roach will be giving lessons in bottleneck slide guitar and country blues guitar respectively.

"The weekend usually takes the form of instructional seminars during the day, with evening concerts and a jamming session well into the night – aided by a couple of whiskies, of course," he says.

"Then it's up the following day with a hangover to do it all over again."