Russ Kendrick Martin is a smoky-throated singer with a ripped-from-the-headlines approach to his songwriting. Touring extensively through the Midwest & Southeast with The Low-Budget Roadshow--a one-man performance that blends finely-crafted original songs with a fresh approach to storytelling -- Kendrick Martin weaves his own blue collar experience into his tunes.
His new album, Road Poems, was released earlier this month and here he answers his Essential 8 where he speaks about his Mom and songwriting, shares the story behind "Miles," touring Europe, and much more. Did you have a musical mentor? If so, who was it and how did they influence you? My Mom was my first musical mentor. She was a gospel singer; she sang at church—in fact all of her siblings are musicians. Mom kept a guitar around the house and she was always singing and playing. She had a huge voice – it came from somewhere deep inside her. She taught me to reach deeper in my playing and singing. She also cautioned me not to write too many slow songs. Please choose one song and tell the story behind it. I wrote Miles about my friend M.J. “Eb” Eberhart. He's one of only two people who have hiked every mile of every National Scenic Trail in the U.S. His trail name is Nimblewill Nomad. When I met him in Summer 2009 he was about halfway along his journey on the 4,600 mile North Country Trail. I was working at a radio station situated just a short distance off the trail. Eb stopped in for an on-air interview with me. We talked for about ten minutes, then hiked together for a couple of hours. At the time he was 70 years old. He had retired from his career as an optometrist several years before we met. He decided to start walking—and that's what he did until 2017 when he retired from long-distance hiking after walking the entire length of Route 66 from Chicago to the West Coast-at the age of 78. Now he's the caretaker of Flagg Mountain in Alabama. Something about his spirit and his wisdom stuck with me. The short hike we took together felt like a life-changing event—at the very least, it changed my perspective on life. Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination? It's definitely a combination. Having worked in small town journalism for a number of years, some of my songs come directly from news headlines; others come from paying attention to those around me—friends, family & strangers. I like to sprinkle in as much personal experience as possible—and occasionally I just make it up as I go along.
Please share the story behind your album’s artwork. I had my eye out for a photo of a road cresting a hill in the distance. Then on a drive to a show in Nashville, traveling back country roads, I found the scene I was looking for at an intersection near Little York Indiana. I took the photo with my phone—It's all I had available. The shot fit the vibe I was looking for. Why did you choose to anchor the album with the songs you did? I chose to open the album with Death In The Westbound Lane because it's a good introduction to my writing and performance styles. It's uptempo with a very dark theme and a ripped-from-the-headlines story. I closed with Among The Hills because it's an open-ended tune. It's my take on what our loved ones who have passed away would say to us if they could reach though from the other side. It's got a long fade out with mandolin and steel guitar. It felt like an appropriate way to close the album. What do you love most about being on the road? I love discovering new places; traveling through small towns on two-lane roads. There are so many untold stories in those places. When I'm on the road I try to avoid traveling on the freeway if possible. The late journalist Charles Kuralt said “You can cross the entire country on a freeway and not see a damn thing.” I'd rather see what's there. I travel in and live out of my pickup truck on the road. I can park it almost anywhere so it makes touring more cost effective and gives me a place of my own to relax write and record in my down time. Which song of yours gets the best crowd response?" Junkyard Angel." It's a song about rebuilding a broken down motorcycle and putting it back on the road. It's mostly autobiographical. A lot of people can relate to the desire to complete that type of project and the need to bond with the machine—The old “It ain't much but it's all mine” mentality. Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off? I would love to tour Europe. That's on the radar—something I'm working toward. Website/Facebook/Tumblr/Twitter
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