Even over the telephone, there is an enigmatic yet unmistakable presence about Jeff Martin. One of the founding members, lead vocalist, guitarist, songwriter and producer for the iconic Canadian hard rock band The Tea Party, he exudes the self-assuredness of a man who is comfortable in his own skin, and who has nothing to prove as an artist, yet is also humble and self-effacing when chatting about his favourite subject – music.
In short, he is very much the embodiment of what many would call a rock star. But there is also a wistful wisdom to the man, which has been hard won through the vicissitudes of the often soul destroying minefield that is the music industry. It is a well earned wisdom as he’s battled personal demons and overcome a lengthy cooling of the relationship between, he and his lifelong friends and co-conspirators in The Tea Party, drummer Jeff Burrows and keyboardist/bassist Stuart Chatwood.
It was a well-documented falling out that doesn’t need to be rehashed here, other than to say that time, perspective and soul-searching honest has resulted in considerable mending of fences, shifts in attitude and a rededication to themselves as humans and friends. The rapprochement has also brought a renewed excitement and intensity to the trio as artistic collaborators within the context of their legendarily bombastic and crowd-pleasing band, that has seen them rack up countless sold out shows in Canada and overseas in recent years.
Earlier this month, they released their latest single, Black River, to both critical and popular acclaim.
Martin left Canada more than a decade ago, first moving to Ireland, and then to Australia, where he has lived for 10 years in the gloriously lovely east coast community of Byron Bay. Before The Tea Party reunited in 2011, he had already embarked on a solo career, beginning with the exceptional album Exile and The Kingdom, released in 2006. After moving Down Under, he put together a short lived band called The Armada, releasing an album under that banner in 2008, followed by a project that he called Jeff Martin 777, which issued the record The Ground Cries Out in early 2011, mere months before the first of a series of reunion shows for The Tea Party.
In Australia, beside the studio recordings, Martin also released a string of well-regarded live albums and DVDs, building a reputation as a top touring musician, as well as building a solid repertoire as an in-demand producer.
Whenever time and scheduling permits, he likes to pop back up to his home and native land, not only to visit friends and family and perhaps work on material with Burrows and Chatwood, but to play a few solo shows. Starting Dec. 6 in Sherbrooke, he is doing a run of dates in La Belle Province of Quebec, wrapping up Dec. 10 in Quebec City. At these shows, fans get a sampling from across the entirety of his musical pedigree.
Martin said he truly enjoys the close quarters of his solo shows, as it not only allows for more of relaxed atmosphere, but because it is also conducive for conversation and connection on a deeper lever than an arena or stadium show.
“It’s the intimacy of it all and it’s the ability to take a more holistic approach through the songs. A lot of those Tea Party songs, when the band and I composed them all together, they became these massive landscapes. But in actual fact, even songs like The Bazaar and Sister Awake just started with me in front of my fireplace in Montreal [at the time] with a 12-string acoustic guitar. That’s how most of those songs started,” he said.
“It’s basically bringing them back to their origins. And because it’s an intimate setting, where it’s not like thousands of people in front of me, it’s a couple hundreds or something like that, I have the time and the ability to get into the background emotion of these songs and explain them to people, which you can’t really do at a big show. So, I am really enjoying these little tours. And, listen, I know what’s coming for the Tea Party next year. With the success of Black River already, I know that big monster is going to take over my life for a year and a half, so this is like the calm before the storm for me. And I am going to enjoy every single moment before the shit hits the fan, in the best possible way.”
And Martin confirms that they are truly solo shows, with just him, his guitars and some triggered sampled soundscapes to help fill out the sound.
“Even though it’s just me, the sound is very big for one person on stage. The way I tune my 12-string guitars helps, and I have drum loops that I created using real musicians when I was in Morocco. So, there’s a lot of sound. I don’t want people to be fooled into thinking they are coming to a quiet acoustic show, per se. Because it’s as loud as a rock show.”
In terms of a set list, Martin said it varies from night to night, and even from country to country. In Australia, he known as much for his solo material, and for The Armada, as he is for The Tea Party. In Canada, he knows that Tea Party classics have to anchor his sets.
“Even though it changes from night to night, there are signposts that I have to play. I think if I didn’t play the Bazaar acoustically, or Requiem and a few other songs, a lot of people would be very, very upset with me. So, there are certain songs that I must play, and I call them the signposts. But then what is in between those signposts is pretty much anything I want to do, because there is just so much music. It’s incredible, to be perfectly honest, to look back on my discography and see all those songs. It’s pretty overwhelming, which means there’s a lot to choose from,” he said, adding that his solo tours in Australia are drawing more attention from fans and from bookers, which makes sense, since he has made it his home for the past decade, and it’s where most of his songwriting and recording takes place, including for The Tea Party.
“In Australia these solo tours are something I have been doing and working on building for quite some time, since I moved over there in 2008. For instance, the tour I just finished up in Australia was one of the most successful yet: they just keep getting bigger and bigger.”
Fans at the shows in Quebec will also have the chance to get their hands on a very limited edition EP of previously unreleased solo songs. Entitled Stars in the Sand, it’s a sampling of some of Martin’s more experimental side, particularly in the realm of world music.
“It’s mostly a collection of musical tangents that I explored when I was in Morocco a couple of years ago. There’s a beautiful song that I wrote for my then fiancé, now wife [Melissa], which is the title track. The collection was just something that I had in the vaults, especially the song Stars in the Sand, and I thought I would put something together and make a special little package out of it, almost like my thanks to make it very personal for people who come to the shows,” he said.
“Because they end up walking away from the shows sometimes being very moved emotionally and this is something that they can take away with them and which will hopefully give them that same feeling. For the time being, these shows are the only place to get them, but that will probably change in the New Year, because there are a lot of people doing some very, very, happy and positive complaining from Europe and abroad. We will make it available to everybody come the New Year. But for now, it’s just first come, first served for the people coming to these shows.”
But that’s not all the news in terms of new music. As evidenced by the massively positive response to the new Tea Party single Black River, and the way fans are scooping up tickets by the armful for the recently-announced Black River Tour of Canada in the spring, there is a genuine desire to hear even more new music – the first since the band’s 2014 album The Ocean at the End. And Martin and his bandmates Jeff Burrows and Stuart Chatwood have new goods to satiate this demand.
“I think we’re going to be doing something pretty soon. We certainly have the material. We recorded enough back in Australia, but time will tell. We haven’t put out new music in quite some time. And, first of all, I can’t believe that this is happening, and I am very excited that there is a brand new generation that are into the music. Truth be told, and I think we both know this, rock music is really coming back strong with Greta Van Fleet and Royal Blood and bands like that,” Martin said.
“So, when a song like Black River comes out, people are like ‘okay, yes, we will definitely take that, and maybe take two.’ What I can promise is there will certainly be a significant EP next year, at least five or six songs. I don’t know if we’re going to go as far as a full album. It remains to be seen. It’s very early days still with Black River. And there are also a couple of other singles that are going to come up behind it that are going to shake some trees as well.
“We will see what happens. And come the New Year, with the tour that has been announced from March through May, we will see how it goes and how we’re feeling about the situation and where the audience is at.”
As successful as Martin has been both as a solo artist and integral member of the triumphant triumvirate known as The Tea Party, his motivation for writing, recording and performing has really not changed in the last quarter of a century.
“Basically, man, I want to make myself happy and people happy, you know what I mean? That’s what it really comes down to. And I know from the reaction to Black River, people are getting happy because of that song. In a sense my job is done, you know what I am saying? That’s the whole point to it. I just want people to come out, especially the new generation that has never seen The Tea Party. You want to see a rock band? Come out and see The Tea Party,” he said, adding that he is as happy in his professional and personal life as he’s ever been.
“I am in a real good place. I have a beautiful love of my life. I’ve got my two best friends back on board, and our friendship couldn’t be stronger, and I’ve got incredible people who work for me. I am very blessed. I live in paradise, but still have lots of love and friends and family here. I am pretty spoiled, and I realize that, and I don’t take it for granted.”
For more information on Jeff Martin’s solo adventures, including links for information and tickets to his remaining shows in St-Casimir (Dec. 7), Drummondville (Dec. 8), Jonquiere (Dec. 9) and Dec. 10 in Quebec City, visit https://www.facebook.com/jeffmartin777.
Jeff Martin is also playing shows in Ontario – Dec. 15 at The Sanctuary Centre for the Arts in Ridgeway and Sammy Krenshaw’s in Tillsonburg on Dec. 16.
For information on The Tea Party, including tour dates next Spring, visit https://www.teaparty.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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Hello Jeff from the hills of west cork