Toby Martin (born 5 August 1975), is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, academic, and lecturer at

University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancell ...

UK. Martin is the grandson of Hungarian-born Australian poet

David Martin David or Dave Martin may refer to: Entertainment *David Martin (artist) (1737–1797), Scottish painter and engraver *David Stone Martin (1913–1992), American artist *David Martin (poet) (1915–1997), Hungarian-Australian poet and novelist *Dav ...

and has a PhD in the history of Australian music from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

. After fronting Sydney-based band

Youth Group Youth Group is an Australian rock band based in Newtown, New South Wales. Built around the vocals of singer Toby Martin and production of Wayne Connolly, the sound of Youth Group is reminiscent of indie rock artists such as Teenage Fanclub, ...

from 1996 to 2009, Martin developed his solo career, releasing his first album, ''Love's Shadow'' in 2012. Martin's PhD thesis, published in 2012, is titled "Yodelling boundary riders : country music in Australia, 1936–2010". In 2017, Martin released his second solo album, entitled ''Songs from Northam Avenue''. The album was written in

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, ...

, and features musical accompaniment by several locals to the area.

Early life and career

Martin was born in Melbourne and grew up in the Frankston area. At 15, he moved to Canberra attending school at Narrabundah College with Cameron Emerson-Elliott, (a future co-member of the band

), where they wrote songs together as The Morris Brothers. Martin moved to Sydney some years later. (Not to be confused with a different Toby Martin, from Adelaide, who was in the band Poxsii Barccs, with

Andy Strachan Andrew Douglas Strachan (born 20 August 1974) is an Australian rock musician. In 1994, after growing up in Adelaide, he relocated to Melbourne, and in 2000 he became the drummer of Sydney-based alternative rock group, Pollyanna. In 2002, he joi ...

, Gary Hopper and Paul Inglis, which played around Melbourne.) In 1996 he formed Youth Group and the band later achieved success with their cover version of " Forever Young" by Alphaville which made no 1 on Australian record charts.

Academic career

Martin was formerly a lecturer at the

in the UK, where he taught songwriting, performance, musicology and world music to music students. Martin currently is a lecturer in Contemporary Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (

). As a songwriter and performer, his research includes practice-based approaches, including the paper Making Music in Bankstown: Responding to Place Through Song, in an IASPM Journal special issue focused on practice-based popular music research. Martin's thesis on the history of Australian country music, ''Yodelling Boundary Riders'', was published in 2015. His extensive research and knowledge of Australian country music lead him to feature as a part of the 2020

Joy McKean Joy McKean , (born 14 January 1930), is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and wife and manager of the late Slim Dusty. Known as the "grand lady" of Australian country music, McKean is recognised as one of Australia's leading songwrite ...

documentary, ''Slim & I''.

Touring

With Youth Group, Martin has toured extensively in Australia, as well as the US, Canada and UK. In 2012, he toured solo down Australia's East Coast supporting

Seeker Lover Keeper Seeker Lover Keeper is an Australian indie rock music supergroup formed by Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann and Holly Throsby in August 2010. The trio each have separate solo careers as singer-songwriters. The group's first album, which was self-tit ...

. Following the release of Songs from Northam Avenue, he has performed solo in the UK and Australia since 2017.

Awards

Martin's band Youth Group were nominated for four

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replac ...

(ARIA)

Music Awards Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect o ...

in 2006.

Discography

;Solo *''Love's Shadow'' (2012) *''Songs from Northam Avenue'' (2017) *''I Felt the Valley Lifting'' (2021) ;with Youth Group *''

Urban & Eastern ''Urban & Eastern'' is the debut album by Australian rock band Youth Group. The album, recorded with producer Wayne Connolly, was released in 2000. Songwriter Toby Martin said his compositions were influenced by You Am I's Tim Rogers, parti ...

'' (2001) *''

Skeleton Jar ''Skeleton Jar'' is the second album by Australian rock band Youth Group. It was first released in Australia on 22 March 2004, and on 24 May 2005 on Epitaph Records in the United States with a re-arranged track listing and one new song. The US ...

'' (2004) *''

Casino Twilight Dogs ''Casino Twilight Dogs'' is the third studio album from Australian band Youth Group, released in Australia by Ivy League Records on 15 July 2006, then in the United States by ANTI- on 30 January 2007. The album came several months after the Aust ...

'' (2006) *''

The Night Is Ours ''The Night Is Ours'' is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band Youth Group, released in Australia in June 2008 and in the US in April 2009. The album features guest musician Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie, who mixed four tracks a ...

'' (2009) *''Australian Halloween'' (2019)

References

External links

Youth Group Official Site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Toby 1967 births Living people Australian indie rock musicians Australian indie pop musicians Australian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent People from Frankston, Victoria Musicians from Melbourne Academics of the University of Huddersfield University of Sydney alumni Australian expatriates in England Australian guitarists Academic staff of the University of Sydney Australian musicologists