Career
Fortnam is a skilled guitarist and bass guitarist, specialising in nylon-string acoustic guitar (which he plays in a style drawing both on classical techniques and the work of Nick Drake) and also sings. Fortnam trained in composition and guitar at Dartington College, England before moving back to London in the early 1990s to seek work as a musician. During this time, he played with several rock and folk bands connected with the cult English rock band Cardiacs, striking up a long-lasting relationship with several of the band members.
Fortnam and Saddington went on to form a similar psychedelic-acoustic band called The Shrubbies (initially Shrubby Veronica) with two more ex-Cardiacs - saxophonist Sarah Smith and drummer Dominic Luckman.
During this time, Fortnam wrote a wide variety of music including some contemporary classical compositions which were performed by ensembles including the Kreutzer Quartet and the Britten Sinfonia. Craig and Sharron Fortnam formed (also known as NSRO) in 2002 as a vehicle for Craig"s more classically-inclined compositions and Sharron"s voice (an unusual soprano blending elements of folk, rock, and classical music).
The ensemble grew from an octet to a twenty-person grouping including a vocal chorus and has released three albums of original compositions - (2006), Birds (2008) and "I A Moon" (2011). NSRO has received a large amount of critical acclaim and played a wide variety of venues including many historic London churches and the Roundhouse.
Fortnam has recently founded a new "solo" project called The debut album, King of the Down, was released by Double Six records on 22 February 2010.
The live line-up consists of Craig Fortnam on guitar and James Larcombe on keys. 2014 saw the release of the second AG album "I Will Be A Pilgrim" (THM003). Fortnam was a featured musician on the soundtrack to the film A Mighty Heart, playing both guitar and bass guitar. and also played guitar on the soundtrack to the 2008 film Shifty (written by Molly Nyman and NSRO member Harry Escott.