Released August 2013: Memories Passed Away by The Martin Brothers and Aspen Run
21 August 2013
Welcome to the fourth album of music produced by Aspen Run - and the first album which launches The Martin Brothers and Aspen Run. At least I think they're still called albums! So much has changed in the music industry since I first heard bluegrass music coming over the airwaves at night while my Dad listened to his old Philco radio. It wasn't called bluegrass back then. It was just plain old Hillbilly Music, with an emphasis on the "Hillbilly" for definite politically-incorrect reasons. We early rock-and-rollers laughed at Dad's music; the twang, the non-electrified instruments, the songs about dying on the cross, and women giving up on their men for the honky-tonk life. Older and supposedly wiser now, I know I've reached a turning point on that Great Road of Life when I begin to regress, begin to re-examine why my old man listened to that stuff, and I begin to realize there were musicians from way back in that era who are still being listened to, still selling albums, and being studied now in university programs for the music they produced. A whole new generation of younger musicians haved picked up the torch from the old guys.
On February 16th 2013 I got a privileged call from Herb Martin, Jr. to come up to Westminster, Maryland and sit in on the birth of this collection of songs. It was cold. Snow decorated the trees when I passed through Reisterstown, but it had been an easy winter so far. Donna, Herb's wife and mother to the Martin Boys had a big pot of stew going. The Band was in the kitchen tuning up and going through a few licks before they went into the home-made recording studio in what everyone calls "The Old Stone House." I had grown used to hearing the Martins (with the inclusion of Steve Unkart and Guy Herbert) perform their normal play list at numerous live performances. I had seen for myself the energy this unique group of musicians can bring to a stage. A rare thing indeed when any bluegrass group can make an audience get up out of their seats and dance. Unlike the third recorded collection of mostly Ralph Stanley and Jimmy Martin covers, Aspen Run: Wanted. (2011) this latest effort includes more than a few pleasant surprises along with audience favorites that have earned the Martins a reputation for delivering solid performances all over the mid-Atlantic region. This collection includes five original songs written by Aaron Martin, Herb Martin, Jr., Herb Martin, III, and Steve Unkart. I've singled out "Memories Passed Away" by Aaron Martin as one of my favorites, and I wasn't surprised when it was elected as the title-cut. All the originally-written songs are good and enjoyable, but this one makes you sit up and listen because there is a story involved. A painful human condition experienced in loneliness.
It's now early August and the Boys are just a little bit older. The first time you see them on stage their youth astounds you if you're my age. Herb, III was born in 1985. Clayton is the middle sibling, born in 1987. The youngest, Aaron, was born in 1988. They already have a legend growing up around their family background. They didn't even play any kind of instruments until seven or eight years ago and when they began they gravitated into old-time bluegrass, bypassing the normal route of young folks attempting to become the next Rock and Roll stars. Family friend Ed Tillman remembers running into them at a local bluegrass jam at the Village Inn in Lineboro, Maryland. "They were great. I remember that night because they wouldn't quit. That was in 2006," says Ed. Shortly after that, it was only a matter of one or two years before The Martins (under the name of Aspen Run) was becoming a popular favorite bluegrass band in the Carroll County region of Maryland. They are following a long tradition of families involved in bluegrass. In their region the same names keep popping up in conversations about bluegrass: Paisley, McCoury, Lundy. Tippett, Meek, to name just a few in this treasure trove region of old-time music. The Martins stuck to tradition as they set out to make a name for themselves.
Tradition is an important element in the story of Martin Family history in Westminster, and especially at the plot of Martin farmland and the Old Stone House. That day in February, Herb Martin, Jr. invited me to watch old films (probably from the 40's and 50's) of Martin Family members in past days making music, and having a good time on the same porch that still stands today. Nothing about that old house has changed much. After hearing "Memories Passed Away" Aaron entertained me with a whole notebook of songs he was working on. I was more than a little stunned. This kid can write!. It was time to go into the recording room and crank them out. Brotherly bickering broke out every few minutes about what was bluegrass and what was not. Beneath it was the deeper purpose of refining their craft, perfecting what was real and cleaning up what sounded phoney. The vocal jabs were normally settled by Herb Martin, III, the eldest. Clayton is the perfectionist. Aaron is the decent-hearted joker. Steve Unkart and Guy Herbert, older than any of them, are stabilizing forces for the process. At the center is the united quest for a pure bluegrass tradition. On this, The Martins will not waver. In a bluegrass business of today where so many younger musicians are trying to break the rules and be 'unique' the Martins don't have to. Their music is so old and traditional it's refreshing to hear it.
Aaron's title cut is an anthem of sorts for the whole collection. It's about never forgetting those who have gone before and those who are still with us. You can say the same thing about music, families, and struggling to maintain one's human dignity in a complicated world. Sometimes it all seems like a very good or very bad dream. Out of dreams we create. It's the human spirit to do so. Memories Passed Away couldn't have been chosen as a better title for this collection. Every song reminds us to never forget where we came from - especially those closest to us who we call family.
Ed Henry
No comments:
Post a Comment