MARTIN HUGHES MARTIN HUGHES

is the quiet man of Spearhead ITC 2004, namechecking Damien Rice, Tim Buckley, Nick Drake and Ryan Adams as influences. Martin's first brush with stardom came with The Calm, the acclaimed indie-rockers who struck up a kinship with The Bluetones and acquired a great deal of label interest before splitting up in 2002. Exit the band, enter the folk-tinged acoustic troubadour, and the County Durham lad is making friends fast in his new guise - not least Tom McRae, who Martin opened for at the Shepherd's Bush Empire last year.