Gregg Martinez
Encyclopedia
Gregg Martinez is an American rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...

 singer and purveyor of the south Louisiana genre called Swamp Pop. He began singing in public at the age of eight in his home church in Carencro, Louisiana
Carencro, Louisiana
Carencro[p] is a small city in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is a suburb of the nearby city of Lafayette. The population was 6,120 at the 2000 census. Its name comes from the Louisiana Creole word for buzzard: the spot was one where large flocks of buzzards roosted in the bald...

. He began his professional music career after graduating from Teurlings Catholic High School in Lafayette, LA in 1974 by performing in the local nightlife scene of South LA.

Career

From 1981 through 1984 Martinez was frontman and bandleader of Gregg Martinez and Kingfish. In 1985 he began to tour nationally with a new backing group called the Heat. Within a few months he landed an exclusive contract with the Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...

 casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

s in Atlantic City, NJ, where he would appear regularly through 1988 and relocated to in 1986. He signed a recording contract with multi-platinum songwriter/producer/musicians Victor Carstarphen and Keith Benson - veterans of the Philadelphia, PA recording scene which included Teddy Pendergrass
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...

, The O'Jays
The O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1963 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert , Walter Williams , William Powell , Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005...

, and Patti Labelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...

. His recordings were not released. Martinez relocated briefly to Nashville in early 1989 but by the end of the year had moved to north TX near Wichita Falls.

In 1990 Martinez began a new chapter in his musical journey in the Contemporary Christian Music
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

 field. He released three Christian albums from 1991-1997. With the releases of For the Ages and All the Days, 1999, 2001, he began to blend the Christian music with the Rhythm and Blues of his earlier days. He formed Gregg Martinez Outreach in 1998 which most notably consisted of a public school anti-drug program which reached many thousands of students around the country.

By 2006 Martinez had relocated back to his native Louisiana and had also returned to the R&B/Blues/Swamp Pop genre with the release of Big Bad Daddy.At this time he also joined the legendary blue-eyed soul group the Boogie Kings. He wrote the title song for The Boogie Kings
The Boogie Kings
The Boogie Kings are an American Cajun swamp pop and blue-eyed soul group.-History:The band formulated in Eunice, Louisiana in 1955 as teenagers first consisting members Doug Ardoin, Skip Morris, Bert Miller, Bryan Leger, and Harris Miller...

' 2007 release Never Go Away. They were inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Martinez' newest CD, South of the Parish Line, is scheduled for release in June, 2011. He is the leader and tours regularly with Gregg Martinez and the Delta Kings.

His vocal style has been inspired and influenced by the soul crooners of the 60's/70's including Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...

, Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....

, Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...

, and Louisiana artists G G Shinn, T K Hulin, Big Luther Kent, and Johnny Adams.

External links

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