Martyn Taylor - Bass (1987 - 1991); Lead Guitar (1999 - date)

Martyn started his musical career during the punk explosion in the late seventies playing in a band called The Invaders who supported such acts as X-Ray Spex; Billy Idol’s Generation X; and Sham 69; etc.

He initially met Stevie Smith when Martyn’s band supported Stevie’s band S.A.L.T at The Bridge House pub in Canning Town, London although it was many years later before he teamed up with Stevie again.

Martyn first joined Ruthless Blues in 1987 on bass guitar. Prior to this he had toured and recorded with various bands throughout Germany, Holland, and the UK including supporting The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. His background of playing bass in a punk band certainly changed the feel of Ruthless Blues and gave it a new found harder edge than it had previously had.

During his stay with the Ruthless Blues, Martyn was approached by singer/songwriter Dave Pask and asked if he was interested in undertaking a writing and recording project with him. Dave had previously been the singer in a band (The Café Racers) with Mark Knopfler just prior to the formation of Dire Straits.

Dave and Martyn got more and more involved with the project with Dave writing most of the songs and Martyn playing most of the instruments and doing the producing. An album was eventually released under the name of Dangerous Mice!

The involvement with Dave had wetted Martyn’s appetite for doing other things and he decided to leave Ruthless Blues in 1991 to form his own band and re-discover his early musical influences, guitarists like Paul Kossof, Jimmy Page and Peter Green.

Martyn re-joined Ruthless Blues on lead guitar in 1999 and immediately revitalised the band, rather like he did when he initially joined the band on bass twelve years earlier!

In addition to playing with Ruthless Blues, Martyn is still working on various projects with Dave Pask as well as occasionally appearing with Ruthless frontman Stevie Smith in the duo - "The Retro Brothers".