When Ian Anderson decided to shut down Jethro Tull in 2012, the shock move left guitarist Martin Barre out of work for the first time since 1968. After a period of bewilderment he returned to action with a new band, releasing solo albums Away With Words and Order Of Play a year apart. On the arrival of Back To Steel in November 2015 – another year on – he told Prog what he’d learned since the end of his time with Tull (who later reconvened without him).
“It’s like a pigeon that’s been locked up in a shed for a few years and then it’s released – it just felt like a huge rebirth,” says Martin Barre of the creative surge that’s yielded three solo albums in two years, including his latest, Back To Steel.
