Jakob Martin - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jakob Martin is an American songwriter, performer, and recording artist.

Martin has released five albums independently, "Matches" (2007, as Martin Storrow), "Masking the Mirror" (2008) "City of the Nameless" (2009), "Leave The Light On" (2010), and most recently, "California Songs" (Rel. June 22 2011). "Matches" earned Martin mainstream media attention, but sold only 2,000 copies, and received mixed reviews. "City of the Nameless" was produced by Dan Diaz

Dan Diaz

Dan Diaz is an American video game/TV/film composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and recording engineer from Southern California. He has composed music for the Electronic Arts video games Skate 3 and Skate 2 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and Skate It for the Wii...

in San Diego and features collaborations with Brodeeva (of G. Love

G. Love

Garrett Dutton , better known as G. Love, is the frontman for the band G. Love & Special Sauce.-Biography:Dutton, the son of a banking lawyer, was born in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, and began playing guitar at age eight. He wrote his first song by the time he was in the ninth...

fame) Aaron Bowen

Aaron Bowen

Aaron Bowen is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a noted player in underground guitar circles and toured with Crimson Glory and formed Red Square Black.-Early life:...

, Stepchylde Tha Phoenix, and Matt Hensley of the band Flogging Molly

Flogging Molly

Flogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish-descendant band from Los Angeles, California, that is currently signed to their own record label, Borstal Beat Records.-Early years:...

. The North County Times

North County Times

The North County Times is a local newspaper in north San Diego County, California owned by Lee Enterprises. It is headquartered in Escondido. The current publisher is Peter York....

called the release "superb" and JVibe

JVibe

JVibe was a bimonthly magazine for Jewish teens aged 12-18, published by a company called JFL Media between 2004 and 2009. Lack of funds forced the publisher to close down all activities in October 2009, including the publcation of JVibe...

magazine claimed that Jakob is "revolutionizing" the acoustic music genre.

Early life

When Martin was three years old, his mother bought him a guitar at a Jumble sale

Jumble sale

A jumble sale or rummage sale is an event at which second hand goods are sold, usually by an institution such as a local Scout group or church, as a fundraising or charitable effort...

, according to a 2009 Trojan Vision

Trojan Vision

Trojan Vision is a student television station at the University of Southern California through the School of Cinematic Arts. Established in 1997 by the Annenberg School for Communication, Trojan Vision is a member of the Open Student Television Network , which televises student programming...

interview. He became addicted to music and continued performing throughout high school and college, eventually opting to pursue music full-time upon graduating from University of California, San Diego

University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...

in 2005.

Career

Martin began to receive more independent media recognition for his work in 2009, surrounding the independent release of "City of the Nameless", but he is most recognized as a touring performer, having made over 500 concert appearances since 2005.

In 2008, Martin was selected out of nearly 1,000 artists as one of the top "Talented 20-Somethings" in a competition sponsored by the popular nationally-syndicated radio show A Prairie Home Companion

A Prairie Home Companion

A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...

on National Public Radio and was featured on the show's website.

Martin often tours independently as a headliner at small clubs, listening rooms, and university festivals, but has also appeared as an opening act

Opening act

An opening act or warm-up act is an entertainer or entertainment act that performs at a concert before the featured entertainer...

and makes frequent Guest Appearance

Guest appearance

In show business , a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer , usually called guest artist , in an event , i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew In performance...

s with other artists. He has recently shared stages with many well-known artists, including, Ari Hest

Ari Hest

Ari Hest is an American singer-songwriter and a native of Riverdale in the Bronx borough of New York.-Early life:Ari took piano lessons as a child and later, as a teenager, taught himself to play his mother's nylon string guitar by ear with influences from both his parents' record collection and...

, , Everclear (band)

Everclear (band)

Everclear is a rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1992 best known for their radio hits spanning more than a decade. For most of its existence, Everclear has consisted of Art Alexakis , Craig Montoya , and Greg Eklund . Eklund replaced original drummer Scott Cuthbert in 1994...

, Tristan Prettyman

Tristan Prettyman

Tristan Prettyman is a singer-songwriter and former Roxy model from San Diego, California. She is signed to Virgin Records and released her first major label album Twentythree on August 2, 2005, followed by her second album Hello...x which was released on April 15, 2008...

, Glen Phillips

Glen Phillips

Glen Phillips is a songwriter, lyricist, singer and guitarist. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of 1990s alternative rock group Toad the Wet Sprocket.-Personal life:...

, Sean Hayes (musician)

Sean Hayes (musician)

Sean Padrick Hayes is an American singer-songwriter.Hayes is a native of New York City, but raised in North Carolina. He began playing traditional American and Irish music with a band called the Boys of Bluehill...

, Hellogoodbye

Hellogoodbye

Hellogoodbye is a power pop band that was formed in Huntington Beach, California in 2001 by singer Forrest Kline. They were signed to Drive-Thru Records and released their first full-length album Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! in 2006, in addition to their previously released EP Hellogoodbye...

, and Ryan Cabrera

Ryan Cabrera

Ryan Frank Cabrera is an American pop rock musician. In 2004, Cabrera debuted with his single "On the Way Down", a top ten hit in the U.S., and album Take It All Away...

. He is also a member of the underground Vibe Night Crew.

Martin cites the Guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

as his primary instrument, but also performs on Piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

and Harmonica

Harmonica

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

.

In 2010, Jakob raised over $12,000 with the help of fans and used the money to record and release "California Songs". The album features a combination of new and old material.

Personal life

In 2008, Martin (who had been performing under the name Martin Storrow) opted to take on the stage name Jakob Martin. He explained the name change to the San Diego Reader

San Diego Reader

The San Diego Reader is the largest alternative press paper in the county of San Diego, distributed free in stands and private businesses throughout the county, funded by advertisements...

, saying, "As an artist, there's a precarious balance between your private personal life and the very personal things you make public through your art. There was one moment when I realized I was actually considering changing a lyric because I didn't want to offend the person I wrote it about. That's when I realized I needed some separation; it can't be about me. It has to be about the music..."

External links

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