I'm one of the few in the world who can proudly say
I make a living doing what I love the most. In my case, creating, performing
and recording music are what I love the most. I accomplish this amazing feat
with a cast of amazing fellow musicians surrounding the Austin, Texas music
scene, including Chris Reeves on Tele and Spanish guitars, Ron Knuth on
fiddle, mandolin and accordion, B.B. Morse on his upright bass (fondly named
Matilda), Lynn Daniel, who platoons on upright and electric basses with B.B.,
Kevin Hall, one of the finest drummers in the world, Joe Guzman, a fine
Latino/country/R and B drummer who now lives in the Seattle, Washington area
and his accordion slinging brother Joel Guzman, who since his Grammies plays
less and less with me, but nonetheless warrants mention here.
My great friend Matt Rollings produced my Lone Starry Night album
with help from the great engineer David Leonard and a cast of amazing Texas
and Nashville players including Allison's brother, Viktor Krause and James
Taylor's famous steel and second acoustic guitarist, Dan Dugmore.
Here's what my friend Robert Oermann wrote recently about what I do: "The
process began in 2003 when millions of country-music fans were first exposed
to his music. john Arthur martinez finished second on the USA Network's
national talent competition Nashville Star."
A Home Made of Stone, his first Dualtone single, is one of the
original compositions he introduced on the television series.
He was born in Austin, Texas, and raised in the Texas hill country, an area
with a rich musical heritage. His father's side of the family was
particularly influential, he recalls. My dad and his sister, my aunt, and a
couple of my uncles would get together and harmonize to the old ballads,
martinez reports. They loved the Mariachi ballads. So they were definitely a
musical influence. And growing up in the Austin area, there are a lot of
famous influences, like Willie Nelson. When you live in a community that has
[Country Music Hall of Fame singer-songwriter] Floyd Tillman living in it
and Willie just 25 miles away, it affects you. Over in Bandera, you had
Charlie and Bruce Robison. Robert Earl Keen was around. It's just a very
songwriter-rich area, the Texas Hill Country. His parents divorced when he
was four, but he saw his father often enough to note first-hand how
difficult it is to make a living with music. Adam Martinez performed as a
drummer for 30 years before giving it up to work for the Lower Colorado
River Authority. john Arthur martinez was raised by his stepfather John
Gutierrez and mother Hortincia. Neither one was musical, but an uncle noted
the boy's love of poetry writing and gave him money to buy a guitar. It
wasn't long before the poems became lyrics. English was spoken at home and
at school, but the youngster also spent a lot of time at his
Spanish-speaking grandparents ranch, so he became bilingual.
john Arthur martinez demonstrated a deep love of language while still in
grade school. He became a published poet at age nine. But music was an
equally powerful draw. He snuck into the Armadillo World Headquarters
nightclub while still underage to see Asleep at the Wheel and Commander
Cody. He was smitten by their western-swing sounds and soon developed a
liking for the legendary Bob Wills and for San Marcos rancher George Strait.
martinez attended college on a tennis scholarship. He graduated with an
English degree from Southwest Texas State University. I wanted to be a
creative writing teacher at the college level and to coach a college tennis
team to a national championship. That was my goal at the time. But his
interest in music intensified during his college years. By the time he
graduated, he was performing in nearby clubs every week. I probably learned
every George Strait song there was. I'd sing them at my gigs alongside my
James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg songs, plus acoustic guitar Beatles' tunes.
And all the while I was learning my Mom 's favorites, like Hank Williams. I
was playing a lot, but I never really thought that 's what my career was
going to be. I decided to go to graduate school and get a Masters in
Journalism at the University of Arizona. It was in Tucson, a town where I
knew no one. That's one of the reasons I went there. I thought I needed to
live a little bit before I could go for a Masters in Creative Writing. While
I was in Tucson, I discovered I was a songwriter and started playing in the
coffee houses around the university. I realized that this is really what I
loved to do, what I really wanted to do. As his songs gained in quality, he
also realized that his heart wasn't in the journalism degree. Martinez
dropped out of grad school, returned to the Austin area and began working at
music full time. It wasn't an easy life. I lived in a lot of places.
Between the time I graduated and the time I married, I slept anywhere I
could. I don't think I can even come close to naming all the places I stayed
for three or more days. Sometimes you live with a girlfriend -- I had a
couple of relationships that were destructive to both parties. I guess it
was good for the music, good for the songwriting.
In 1987 he made his first pilgrimage to Nashville. The city's community of
songwriters encouraged and embraced him, bolstering his self-confidence
immensely. But back home, the low-paying club jobs barely kept him fed. He
enrolled in an Ohio school to learn recording techniques. He booked time in
studios. He was trying to pay off his college loans. His debts were
mounting. To get control of his finances, martinez began teaching English
and coaching tennis at Marble Falls High School. I used my music in the
classroom. I used songs to teach alliteration, assonance, rhyme and rhythm.
And at night, I was always gigging. It was wearing me out, but I couldn't
give up the music. The trips to Nashville continued. He met songwriting
greats like Alex Harvey, John Prine and Harlan Howard, which further
inspired him.
In 1998, john Arthur martinez recorded 10 of his songs on a CD titled
Spinning Our Wheels. It was a simple, homemade effort, but several
notables pitched in. Gene Elders, the fiddler for George Strait and Lyle
Lovett, loaned his skills to the project. So did Loggins & Messina's veteran
percussionist Merel Brigante and ex Asleep at the Wheel pianist Floyd
Domino. martinez sold the CD to the folks who came to his increasingly
popular shows. By this time, there was someone special in his audience. On
Feb.20, 1999, that special someone became his wife, Yvonna. Overnight, the
itinerant musician became the stepfather of three girls and a boy. Family
life, he says, has actually strengthened his musical resolve. Yvonna
encouraged him to teach part-time at a private school so that he could spend
more time writing and singing. She is also an herbalist who has healed a
singing voice once ravaged by too many nights in too many smoky clubs.
martinez recorded Stand Your Ground as his second CD in 2001. More
polished than his earlier effort, it won him radio airplay in a number of
major markets in his home state, including Dallas and Austin. His momentum
was building, but he put everything on hold to compete on Nashville Star. He
seemed to gain musical strength with each week's appearance on the program.
After the show ended, he began to sing in Nashville nightspots from time to
time. It all came together at a performance in a Music City coffee shop on
August 27, 2003. Executives from both Dualtone and The William Morris Agency
were in the audience. Most of the show was just me and my guitar. I felt a
really strong spiritual covering that night. It was just amazing. It wound
up being probably one of the top performances I've ever given. Within hours,
he was signed by both the agency and the label.
Working with producer Matt Rollings and an all-star cast of Nashville
musicians, the new Dualtone signee has crafted an album of depth and
resonance. His original material rings with the truth and insight we find so
often in the finest troubadours from the Lone Star State. martinez caresses
the ballads with a tender touch, lets loose when he offers a swing tune and
rides the mid-tempo tunes like a bona fide cowboy. A bilingual version of
George Strait 's Amarillo By Morning is both a salute to a musical
influence and a proud reminder of his ethnicity. Home Made of Stone
recognizes that the family is still in a mobile home in Marble Falls, but
like the album, itself, is a bright promise for the future.
It's been quite a climb, but he has always faced his hardships with grace,
humor and dignity. Whether in person or on disc, john Arthur martinez exudes
the quiet confidence and charisma that made millions of TV viewers fall in
love with him in 2001. When he smiles, the world has sunshine. When he
talks, it's always from the heart. And when he sings, the soul is nourished.