Bob Martin (January 18, 1942 - September 21, 2022) from Lowell, Massachusetts, was an American
folk
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singer-songwriter.
Biography
While attending
Suffolk University
Suffolk University is a private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. With 7,560 students on all campuses, it is the List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston, tenth-largest university ...
in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
during the 1960s, he was influenced by the
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
folk scene and played at the Nameless Coffeehouse, Club 47 (now
Club Passim
Club Passim is an American folk music club in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Joyce Kalina (now Chopra) and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 (based on its then address, 47 Mount Auburn Stre ...
), and other folk clubs. In 1972, he went to
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
and recorded his first album, ''Midwest Farm Disaster''. In 1974, he became disillusioned with music and moved to a farm in
West Virginia
West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
with his family. In 1982, he recorded his second album, ''Last Chance Rider''. He gave up music once again, this time for ten years, until the release of his third album in 1992. This album, ''The River Turns the Wheel'', contained backing vocals by
Bill Morrissey
Bill Morrissey (November 25, 1951 – July 23, 2011) was a Grammy-nominated American folk singer-songwriter based in New Hampshire.
Early life
Morrissey was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Growing up in Connecticut and Massachusetts, he started ...
and
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr.; July 20, 1933 – June 13, 2023) was an American author who wrote twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays, and three short stories, spanning the Western, post-apocalyptic, and Southern Got ...
. Martin continued performing nationally afterward, opening for
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...
in 1999.
Discography
* ''Midwest Farm Disaster'' (
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
, 1972)
* ''Last Chance Rider'' (June Appal Recordings, 1982)
* ''The River Turns the Wheel'' (1997)
* ''Next to Nothin (2000)
* ''Live at The Bull Run'' (2010)
* ''Seabrook'' (2023)
References
External links
Official web site2011 interview with Bob Martin on Prog Sphere
American male singer-songwriters
RCA Records artists
American folk musicians
Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts
1942 births
Living people
{{US-singer-songwriter-stub