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SINGER-SONG WRITER COVER SONG STYLINGS IN FOLK COUNTRY POP |
Playing in background, sung by The Man From Snow Road, Dave Martin - " Alone In the Night " written and © by Lu Robitaille Fast forward nearly ten generations. Son of a prize-winning fiddle player, of the French Canadian influence, Dave Martin has left traces of his music in Toronto, Barrie and the tiny hamlet of Washago. He now operates an adventure company, Adventure Agent, in another tiny hamlet, Snow Road Station. There's something about this Mississippi River valley. His music of course, remains a strong component of his life. Surrounded by a community that loves its rural roots, Dave lives next to a member of the “old” country music group "the Country Four". The spectacular Abrams Brothers bluegrass family call this home. Also settled very near are a host of other roots and country musicians. Nearby live Juno Award winners Christine Graves, Jenny Whiteley, Joey Wright, David Francey, and Terry Tuffs. The Ontario Government commissioned Dave to write a song about Canadian unity. His song "Moon River" was nominated to the "Songs From the Heart" competition, a province-wide, juried competition. In no particular order, here are some of the venues Dave has played: Ontario’s Queens Park, (seat of the provincial legislature,) Festival of the Trees, the Elphin Roots Festival, the Art of Being Green Festival, Donstock, Amherst Island Folk Festival, a concert at the University of Toronto’s Heart House, King's College Coffee House, founding performer of Fat Albert's Coffee House, the Missing Piece Coffee House - Grand Bend, Whistlestop Coffee House, Don's Coffeehouse, York University Coffee House, Humber College Coffee House, The Mynah Bird Club, and The Zorba Club. He has opened for rock band Bare Mother at various venues, and Fred Eaglesmith. At the Orillia Opera House he represented the Orillia Folk Society in a tribute to Gordon Lightfoot. He has played at the Canadian Chiropractic College, Rockway Mennonite High School, Conrad Grebel College. He has performed, by invitation of the Mayor, at opening ceremonies of Todmorden Mills, Toronto. He did repeats at the Canadian National Institute For the Blind, the Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival, Conestoga College, the Banana Factory, the Head Hunters Club, The Red Lion Tavern, the Butcher's Arms Tavern, the Sherwood Tavern, and the Bo Peep Tavern. Various other places/events: seniors homes, churches and some of the top resorts in Ontario. He's had the pleasure of playing at fund raising events for such important things as fire department equipment, persons with finance-impeded difficulties, such as medical expenses. Dave also worked at the Millwheel Guitar Shop, Toronto, specializing in the sale of exclusive, Canadian, hand-made guitars - Wren, Larrivee, etc. So influential was this shop that Jean Larrivee, Canada’s most celebrated luthier, even created a model named "The Millwheel". While working in the oilfields at Swan Hills, Alberta, (a grizzly preserve), Dave auditioned for (Senator) Tommy Banks, concertmaster of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. He had a television show called "The Tommy Banks Show". After he had returned to Toronto, Tommy Banks had made a call to Dave's Edmonton digs. However, Dave didn't want to return to Edmonton, with it's then minus sixty degree weather. He's been priviledged be in the presence of Seiji Ozawa, maestro of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, held a gathering at his home. Among those in attendance that private event Dave got to hobnob with Leonard Bernstein, of New York Philharmonic fame. Dave Martin’s baritone voice has a presence that doesn't intrude. Accompanied by his own finger-style acoustic guitar playing he is well suited to a strolling minstrel styling. Think of Gordon Lightfoot, and Don Williams, with a hint of Chet Atkins. His repertoire lists “Canadiana” songs by less known artists such as Joe Grant of Tanglefoot, Lu Robitaille, and Marg Raynor of Georgian Bay. It includes renderings of easy-listening country favourites by Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, Glen Campbell, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and classic country and bluegrass tunes.
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