The Flying Monkey Performance Center presents The Martin Barre Band on Saturday, April 1st at 7:30 PM. Tickets for this concert start at $29.

Best known as the lead guitarist for Jethro Tull, Barre has since gained critical and fan praise for his solo projects. It’s not that Martin Barre wants to forget Jethro Tull, the group in which he was a member for 43 years, but he’s certainly moved on musically.

Although the Grammy Award winning Barre is most closely associated with Tull, he joined the band in 1969 for its second album, Stand Up, and was continually hailed by critics for his virtuosic playing. He also has a solid body of solo work and collaboration with musicians including Paul McCartney and Phil Collins. After Tull founder and front man, Ian Anderson, shifted musical direction in 2011, Barre began to tour with his own band.

“This has been a whole turning point musically. We will always have the Tull connection that goes back to my roots and our fan base, but I want to take the fans with me. Essentially our musical style isn’t really changing. Back to Steel is a more direct approach to my songwriting, and our intention is to make it more workable and accessible for an audience to enjoy.”

The way Barre approached life after Tull was first to record an acoustic album. He formed bands with different line ups before settling on the one he has now. His latest album, Back To Steel, has his own compositions, with a decidedly blues rock flavor, as well as renderings of classic Jethro Tull tracks Skating Away and Slow Marching Band and an arrangement of Eleanor Rigby by the Beatles.

“[Jethro Tull music] will always be a part of my work,” Barre says. “But I hope it becomes about 40 percent instead of 60 percent. I will never turn my back on it, though. I’m not so stupid that I don’t know that people come to hear me play, so they can hear Tull. But a lot of that music is in me, anyway. That’s not far from home. It will always be there. It’s a great night out,” he said of going to the band’s shows. “The music is for everybody.”

Tickets for Martin Barre Band are $29, and $39 for premier seating. For more information on upcoming shows or to purchase tickets call the box office at 603-536-2551 or go online at flyingmonkeyNH.com.