Mr. Martin Header
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Brent Martin - Keys, Guitar and Banter
Brent's Gear
Korg Musical Instruments
Roland Musical Instruments
Boss Effects
Marshall Amplification
Peavey
Shure Microphones
Hughes & Kettner Cabinet

Because Brent's too "busy" to write his bio himself, his big brother, Len, took over the responsibility. Read on...,

Brent Martin was born in the rock and roll hotbed of Cortland, New York, in 1970. Around four months of age he was dropped from shoulder height onto a cold linoleum floor, where, luckily, he only landed on his head. Obviously, this early event would have profound influences on future musical choices. As a small child, he showed a remarkable ability for building with LEGO blocks, as well the ability to withstand merciless torture by his older brother, who actually once left him tied to a tree in the woods.

Music was always a part of the Martin household, but the schizophrenic juxtaposition of his Dad's old Motown catalogue and Doors records (in Quadraphonic, no less) with his Mom's Neil Diamond collection left young Brent with confused notions of what was funky and/or cool. Enter Brent's first musical training - the violin. Years of endless practice on scales and Mary Had a Little Lamb came crashing down with a certain pizzicato finality when the realization struck that violin players never get the chicks. Around the same time, noise from a steady stream of KISS records started seeping out from under his brother's bedroom door. Notions of showmanship were hatching. A switch to the trumpet brought new challenges, and the threat of being beaten for carrying a violin case in a hugely homophobic suburb disappeared.

Sometime around Junior High, Mom and Dad kicked in for the Casio Keyboard. By 8th grade, Van Halen's "Jump" was mastered (except for that no-sense-of-timing thing), and suburban Connecticut rocked with covers of .38 Special and Night Ranger. It was cool to play synth in the 80's. Influences grew... Rick Wakeman, Thomas Dolby, Bernie Worrell from P-Funk, Howard Jones (Brent's Mom: What's that he's saying? Brent: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa), and the Joe Jackson Band all filtered through an impressionable young mind. Finally, the awareness that Duran Duran got to wear makeup, play pop songs and sleep with chicks like the one in the Hungry Like the Wolf video made lasting, but as yet unrecognized, imprints deep in the young artist's subconscious. PSU and its music scene was a great proving ground. After years of financial hardship, various musical permutations, profound weight loss, and incredible alcohol consumption, a light appeared through a grunge-weary haze. Long sought-after artistic and financial success was based one one simple truth - 20-year old sorority girls have a deep-seated biological need to sing Rick Springfield tunes. Rock on, my cheesy brother.

e-mail: Brent