Teaching Guitar Lessons

I will be the first to admit that I am more of a singer who plays guitar, than a guitar player who sings.  Over the past year of playing many shows, I have learned a great deal more about guitar and feel much more confident on my instrument now.  But I don't spend hours a day playing guitar scales and I have  no desire to add screaming guitar solos into any of my songs.  

So recently a good family friend asked me if I would teach his son how to play guitar and my first thought was, man, if my guitar player friends heard that I was teaching they would laugh.  But as I started to think more about this opportunity, I realized that a) I love to teach, doesn't really matter what it is.  b) Compared to a person who has just picked up guitar, I know many things that I can teach them.  So I agreed to take on his son as my first student and I have spent many hours preparing for what I will teach him.  I'm a bit nervous about this, but I'm also really excited to what him develop as a young musician.  If this goes well, I will be taking more students and will keep teaching them everything I can until they need to be referred to someone who plays at a much higher level.

Here goes nothing.

Summer Music

 This Summer has been amazing for Darin Martin Music.
I have had the opportunity to play living rooms, back yards, farmer's markets, cool coffee shops, pubs, theatre foyers as seen below and with some good fortune, might have an opportunity to play in a park band shell in the near future.
My love for music has grown over the Summer as I have really started to see how audiences connect with a song as it brings them a flood of memories.
I was playing at a Pub in Annapolis Royal with my brother in law and friend "Dan Froese" and we began our last song for the night..."Have You Ever Seen The Rain" by CCR.  I watched as smiles filled people's faces and when we hit that old sweet chorus, the whole patio was filled with singers belting that familiar tune.  We finished the song just in time to be greeted with a bagpiper who was kicking off Natal Day Weekend and it was one of those special moments in the life that people remember and song writers sing about.
I have the privilege of being a singer songwriter in the great city of Hamilton where there a many of us. On any night, you can check out one of the cool venues in Hamilton and you are bound to find Scott Orr, or the Good Hunters, or Kori Pop singing their hearts out to crowds.

Last night I had the night off so my family and I went to Gage Park to hear my favourite cover band "Freedom Train" play and it was another amazing night of Summer Music.  Hundreds of people sitting around in lawn chairs and on blankets.  Many with their dog as their side, listening to great old songs and watching the Sun set off in the distance.
It's the kind of night where you want to gather all of your friends and everyone you love together because you don't want them to miss it.
I have found this Summer to be filled with those nights, and they are almost always geared around music.
Well, Summer isn't quite over yet, and I have much to do today with the release of my first video shot on my East Coast Tour, the upcoming release of our new 5 Song EP, my amazing RocketHub Supporters to give an update to, and new songs to write for a community film that is being shot right in our neighbourhood.

A Great Start To The Summer

On Thursday July 5th Geoff and I kicked off the Summer with a sold out show at the Coach and Lantern in Ancaster Ontario.
This was our first official concert working with NJ Bookings and it was a huge success.
The night was filled with great music from Nic Armstrong, lots of dear friends and a chance to meet a bunch of new ones.
We had an absolute blast from the moment we loaded in our gear to hanging out afterwards with some friends in the parking lot laughing at funny moments from the night.
It is a pretty cool feeling playing for a full room.  There is a certain energy and buzz like something amazing is about to happen.
After playing so many house concerts on my own, it was an absolute treat to have my "wingman" Geoff Laforet at my side rocking out and as always, putting on a show for the crowd.
Playing music professionally definitely has it's highs and lows, but this was one of those nights that I didn't want to end.  A night when almost everything went right and even the things that didn't were still laughable.
I felt so loved and supported by many great friends including my friends Hooper and Ronny V.  You guys have been such a source of encouragement and support and I am so blessed to have you both in my corner.  Thanks for being there and standing behind this whole thing.
Off to bed.  The East Coast Tour is only 2 days away.

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