I have for you today the answer to that age-old question: what would you get if you crossed Jim Bianco with E? It's Mark Martyre. Aren't you glad I cleared that up for you?
Mr. Martyre bills himself as "folk" but he's pretty far into indie territory, to me. The sparse nature of the instrumentation lets his lyrics and his voice shine, certainly. I just tend to mentally hook "folk music" with "hippies and Americana" so those very lyrics slide him right out of the genre.
I've chosen to share Lauren Bacall from "Down, Record" because it snagged me from the first line: "Age is a terrible thief". As always, my love for the warm, rough voice of someone who can actually sing and play led me to replay this one several times, toes tapping along with each one. And who hasn't spent a night or ten watching black and white movies, all alone?
If you like Lauren Bacall, do click over to Mark Martyre's bandcamp page and have a listen to the rest of the album. It's beautifully done in so many ways. My only quibble is no credit for the woman who sings back-up with him. She was lovely, too.
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