Martin J. Andersen

Martin J. Andersen was born in Aarhus, Denmark, but moved to the Thisted area with his family at an early age. A child of a musical household, Martin started out on drums at age 7, but fell in love with the electric guitar around age 10, upon being introduced to the music of Jimi Hendrix and Cream. Forming his first band at 12, Martin started gigging professionally at age 13, and by 14, he was regularly doing gigs with musicians more than twice his age, and making a little money in the process. At age 17, Martin won 2nd place in a youth song-contest on nationwide Danish TV, with his band AMM. A year later, he joined Anders, Jesper and singer Mikkel B. Poulsen in CREAMY BEAVER. The band was a dream come true for Martin, as he had long been wanting to play with the fabled Hvidtfeldt/Bunk rhythm section. The initial jams did not disappoint, and with the powerful, clean vocal delivery of Mikkel B. Poulsen in the mix, it was clear to everybody that something special was in the making. Together, they quickly recorded a 2-song demo, and those who have heard it will attest to the fact that the aweinspiring, powerful, musical interplay between Anders, Jesper and Martin, which is a given, central component of the overall Blindstone sound today, was already evident on those early demos.
A year later, in 1995, the band recorded and released a 2-song CD single, entitled ”Part Of Me”, the title track of which can be found in re-recorded form on Blindstone’s recent collection of ”Rare Tracks”.
When CREAMY BEAVER (later re-named ODEON) folded, Martin engaged in myriad musical adventures, while keeping in touch with Jesper. The two kept jamming together in a blues-rock jam outfit, and eventually, Jesper joined Martin in the band Daybreak, from the ashes of whic BLINDSTONE was founded. As mentioned above, Martin and Jesper have done innumerable musical projects together, becoming sought after session players in the process. Both appear on George Clinton’s 2005-album, ”HOW LATE DO U HAVE 2 B B 4 U R ABSENT?”, providing the backing, along with Dwayne ”Dcat” Cornelius, on an funky, raunchy cover of the Jerry Lee Lewis-classic, ”WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN’” . Aside from Clinton, also appearing on the track are another 2 bona fide Soul/RnB legends: Soul crooner extraordinaire Bobby Womack, and the late, great Billy Preston, on vocals and keyboards , respectively.
Both Martin and Jesper consider the recording experience with Clinton, et al., to be the greatest musical experience of their lives.
Martin and Jesper, along with Dcat Cornelius, also form the nucleus of the band DCAT & DA BOMB, which released the album ”1.0” in 2006. George Clinton appears on 2 tracks on this release.
Martin is the guitarist, singer and principal songwriter in Blindstone. His raw, emotionally charged, yet technically proficient guitar style and soulful vocals are the natural focal point of the band’s sound.
Among the accolades he has received, Martin has been labeled both ”One of the best european blues-rock guitar players”, as well as ”the unsung guitar hero of the modern age”, and his work with Blindstone is all the proof you need, to see that in Martin’s case, such lofty praise is truly justified.
Martin lives with his wife and their 3 boys in Koldby, Denmark.