East Coast Tour This Summer

So now that I have actually managed to book a few concerts in and around Halifax, I can officially announce that my family and I will be heading to the East Coast this Summer for a Tour.
My goal for this trip is to play for new audiences, make some new friends, visit family and find new inspiration for future songs or projects.
The gigs will be pretty diverse.  So far I am playing at a Coffee House in Halifax, a Church in Halifax and a farmer's Market in Annapolis Royal N.S..
Unfortunately my dear friend Geoff will not be able to join me for this Tour but my hope is to build some good networks in the Maritimes so that we can head out with the whole band when the time is right.
I will be joined some musicians along the way including my brother in law Daniel Froese http://www.danfroese.com/index.html who is an amazing musician and violinist.  I'm really looking forward to hearing my songs with some violin in them.
I will post more dates and details as they get nailed down.

Pause to Say Thanks.

I just sat down with a cup of coffee at the Cannon Coffee Co. http://www.facebook.com/cannoncoffee on the corner of Cannon and Ottawa in Hamilton.  This is a very cool little place where the towns people come and go throughout the day.
Lot's of little meetings happen here and they all seem to be cool people trying to do something to start their business of help our great city in some way.
Since being back in Hamilton lots of very cool things have been happening.  My focus so far has been trying to establish a few steady paying gigs so that I can continue to do House Concerts and Band gigs that don't always fill the gas tank.
The Band
We are very excited about what is coming up for us very soon in the band.
Geoff and I have been really starting to focus on getting our live show where it needs to be.
In the next few weeks we will be releasing our Brand New EP "Sinking Deeper" and will be shooting our first music video.
Right now I am meeting with some musical people to get some advice on next steps including a publicist who is very interested in helping us take a few steps forward.
It seems that at every stage there is one more expense involved in taking the next step but like any business, it costs you to get rolling.
So we keep on plugging and trying to come out with a bang with our new record.
Thanks for your support.
Darin

RocketHub

After several months of trying to work with a company from the United States to do an online crowd sourcing project, we fell flat on our faces and gave up on the idea.
I was so discouraged realizing that although we had gotten very close, there were a few details that wouldn't allow Geoff and I to do a project of that nature from Canada.  At least with that company called "Kickstarter".
But after more research and some encouraging words from singer songwriter and friend Jacob Moon, who had used a company called "RocketHub" for a few projects, we discovered that we still had a shot.
So we tweaked the video and created a whole new project and 2 days ago it launched with RocketHub.
If you click on this link, it will explain how it works. http://rkthb.co/6734
But this is what I was talking about a few months ago when I blogged about needing to have the middle person between and artist and a producer.  RocketHub allows us to raise money for our recording project and our friends and fans get to feel very much a part of the process of launching our music to the world.
I am once again so excited about these new songs and this new sound and really want to be able to finish this project and share the new stuff with you.
Thanks for standing by us and supporting us on this journey.

The Photo Shoot

 Today we had our photo shoot with the amazingly talented Dave Fretz of www.davefretzdesign.com and it was a ton of fun.
I have worked with Dave in the past on my "Every Time You Smile" art work but having Geoff and Dave together in the same room was hilarious.
Geoff and I laughed as Dave would react to how "freaking cool" the photos looked.  Then he would snap a quick shot of us laughing and often those turned out to be the best shots.
Dave is a true artist and a gentleman.  His photo shoots are a ton of fun and he encourages you to forget that the camera is there while he has a conversation with you.
Just so you know, these photos are not the ones that Dave took, they are snaps shots from my iphone.  Dave's shots are incredible and will blow you away as soon as we release them with our upcoming EP.
I have been keeping pretty quiet lately and working on a bunch of things behind the scenes but we are getting very close to making a few pretty big announcements about what has been happening behind the scenes and I can't wait to share that with you.

That's it for now.  More info to come very soon so stay tuned.
Peace,
Darin

A New Verse in the Song.

On Friday night at "The Garrison" in Toronto  a new verse in the song of this musical journey was written.
If you have been reading this posts and following this journey for any length of time, you will know that I am a singer songwriter from Hamilton who has been touring around with my good friend and drummer Geoff Laforet and playing songs from my acoustic EP "Every Time You Smile" http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/darinmartin
After sitting down with Gord Richards of Oak Recording Studiohttp://www.thesoundofoak.com/home.html in Toronto and doing one song, I was hooked with the new Rock direction and wanted to give it a shot.
I realize that those of you who really dig the chilled out acoustic stuff may not join us on this leg of the journey.  Like my own mother for example.   I myself was wondering if it made any sense to try this new direction.  How can an artists who has been known for his acoustic story telling style, embark on this very different style and sound?  But then I thought about one of my all-time fav artists "Neil Young" and thought,  my 2 fav songs by Neil are "Harvest Moon and Alabama" which are 2 very different styles of music and both are Neil and both move my soul.
So with encouragement from Gord and Geoff, I thought "what the heck?"  Why does an artist is who trying to reach a larger audience need to box themselves into one style or category?  Dallas Green was another example I looked to.
For years, producers have been telling me that I write big Rock Anthems but play them acoustically.  Them seem to think my voice would lend itself well to big guitars and catchy hooks.  I have partly shied away from it for practical reasons.  It is expensive to record in pro studios, it is really hard to find other musicians who will journey with you and then you have all of the ego and creative differences.  But God has blessed me with some guys who really believe in me and my ability to write songs and want to get behind this whole Darin Martin Music thing.
So on Friday night Geoff Laforet sat down to his sweet new drum kit, Gord plugged into his Half Stack, Graham picked up his 5 string Stingray and I dusted off the Les Paul and plugged into a Mesa Bogie Dual Rectorfier Roadster 2/12 combo.  On Geoff's count in, we started our first Song "My Let Down" off the fourth coming EP and it got really loud.  It was such a cool experience to hear songs that I wrote on an acoustic guitar sounding so big and full.
My heart was pounding with excitement and my ears were ringing like mad.

 But I must say, I enjoyed every minute of it.  Seeing Geoff as happy as a pig in mud behind his kit, watching the Richard's brother's running all over the stage and sharing 5 brand new songs with the fine folks from Vox.
We are working very hard behind the scenes to get some key things going very soon and have hit a few road blocks, but are trusting that these doors will continue to open.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and follow us on this journey.
Look for updates and announcements coming out very soon on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Darin-Martin-Music/217569348255922 or at  http://darinmartinmusic.com/Darin_Martin_Music/home.html

Our First Show

If you have been following me for any length of time you would know that I am a singer songwriter from Hamilton who has been on a musical journey of discovery over the past number of years.
Many years ago I was the lead singer of a Christian Folk-Rock band called Silas and in that band, I knew where I fit.  I wrote some of the songs and sang the songs with the others in the band.  Usually in 3 part harmony.
But since that time I have tried to find my voice and my sound in music.  I think I have been trying to hard to find something instead of just letting it happen.
The truth is, I live the sound of the acoustic guitar and feel most comfortable at this point playing that.  However, every time I have entered a studio the producers have suggested that I have a rock voice and that I write rock anthems that would also suit a full band sound.
Hense my Unbroken Son EP which is available on itunes through my website. http://darinmartinmusic.com/Darin_Martin_Music/home.html 
Playing as a band is really a difficult task when you think about it.  You have
different personalities, and schedules to deal with.  Not to mention moody artists that change really effect the dynamics.  However, when you get the right fit and those 4 or so instruments come together to play a great song, it is magical.
Well, as you know I have been writing for a new 5 Song EP and have put together 5 great songs with a great band sound.  I am really stoked about this new sound.  It is an incredible gift to a songwriter to hear your songs sound so full and see 3 other guys passionately rocking out on a song together.
So after almost a whole week and a half off from playing our last show as an acoustic Duo,  Geoff Laforet (Drums), Graham Richards (Bass), and Gord Richards (Guitar) will be taking the stage at the Garrison on Friday March 16th to rock out these 5 new songs from the EP.
We are all super pumped to play out and see what kind of reaction we get to the new sound and new tunes.
Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and support Darin Martin Music.
Please come to our facebook page and click "LIKE"
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Darin-Martin-Music/217569348255922

CBC Radio

On September 23rd 2011 Geoff Laforet and I released a 5 song Indie Acoustic EP called "Every Time You Smile" and began to play those songs in restaurants, churches and lots of house concerts.  We have been trying to promote our music and build Darin Martin Music into something that reaches more people.
When I write a songs, I always go through a range of emotions from feeling like "I think I might have something here" to "This song stinks and I should never play it for anyone."
The night before my last recording day in August at the 2nd Record Studio with Engineer and producer Deni Gauthier, I sat down with my mom and wrote a song called "Waiting For You" which came together quickly and really excited me.
So when my sister informed me that CBC was having a love song contest for Valintine's day, I sent "Waiting For You" in.  After I hit send, I stopped thinking about the song and the contest and kept focusing on all of the gigs that Geoff and Graham and I had coming.  Including the one this photo at the Hershey Centre on Sunday February 12th for Faith and Family Day.  At the end of the OHL game we were asked to join Mike Gartner and Mark Osbourne at Centre Ice to sing an original song.
It is always hard to decide which song to sing but for the nature of this event I felt that "Nowhere To Hide"(Another song from our EP) had a similar message to what the event was about.  So we sang the song and were feeling super excited about all of the opportunities that we have had to play the songs publicly and meet so many cool people.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N-CmhQnIr0&lc=0JMNpBPlTt2U9TjdCMfLpbTtsVVd7EBtj7VAz7uDzvA&context=C3c25e8eADOEgsToPDskJlyTsrj46Jp62kFYvsu2JG
Directly following the event I went home and crashed until Tuesday as I had been fighting a cold all week and was trying to hold it together for our 4 weekend shows.
On Tuesday (Valentine's Day) I finally left my house for the first time since Sunday to buy sloppy joe ingredients to make for my family for Valentine's dinner.
At around 4:10pm I started making supper and got a phone call from my mother who was crying on the other end and said..."Did you hear it?"  to which I answered, "hear what mom?"  She said, "You got second place in the Love Songs contest and they played your song on CBC radio."  I immediately got chills and started thinking about writing that song (with my mom) and playing it for a whole bunch of people and now having it played on the radio.  I didn't actually get to hear it but that fact that so many others did, is really exciting.
It really doesn't mean too much, except that a whole bunch of people listened to CBC on Tuesday and heard my song.  The producer of the show "Here and Now" emailed me directly to tell me that she and the other staff having been humming my song all day and they can't get it out of their heads.  It also means that CBC now has a copy of it and if enough people start requesting to hear it again, it could really help us as a band to reach a whole bunch of new listeners.
This is getting long so I am going to sign off for now.  Thanks for reading this and all of your support.
Darin