THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH, Wednesday, July 6, 2005
"Musician Takes Long Road Home to Find His Muse"
By Aaron Beck
 David Martin will perform at 9 p.m. tonight at the Park Street Tavern,
501 N. Park St. (614.221.4099); and at 10 p.m. Thursday
at Oldfleld's on High, 2590 N. High St. (614.784. 0477).
Admission to each show is $5
Martin, with openers Ray Valentine and the Ghetto Celebrities, will appear Friday at Lake Park Pavilion, on Rt. 83 about a half-mile north of Coshocton; gates will open at 6 p.m. In addition to the family-oriented concert, a Caribbean-themed party will include food, drinks and dancing. Admission Is $12. Call 740-622. 7528.
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Advice might be cheap, but David Martin considers some from his brother a quarter- century ago the best in his life.
The Coshocton native — returning with an eight-piece band from California to perform shows tonight, Thursday and Friday in central Ohio — said: "My older brother, he said: 'David, you've got talent. You need to believe in yourself. This town's nice. You can get too comfortable here. You can get lazy and just get a job. You should see what's out there. You should go to California.'
"So I did."
After earning a degree in theater and music performance at Wilberforce University; Martin headed west.
But before he arrived in California to follow his musical muse, fate — automobile failure — landed him in Albuquerque, N.M.
For an easygoing man with such an optimistic disposition, Albuquerque suited Martin just fine for seven years.
"I fell in love with the scenery and the people," Martin said in a telephone interview.
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"I took a job with a youth facility; a rehab center. It was high stress be- cause you never knew what your day was going to be like, but I loved it.
"I loved working with kids. David Martin Back in Coshocton, every summer I organized block parties. We'd put the stereo outside and have dance contests for the kids."
Seven years later, however, Albuquerque had morphed into another Coshocton, Martin said. "It felt like a small town. I seemed to know everybody"
He soon had a new address in Santa Cruz, Calif. While working a similar job there, he started to get serious about making music.
Martin, 49, now lives in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife, Katie, and his three daughters, ages 2 1/2 to 15.
Fourteen years ago he founded Martel Communications, a graphic-design and telecom- munications company that has grown to include a music-production wing.
"I started hiring people who could work for the company but who could also play music," be said.
Last year he released King David's Throne, a breezy fusion of reggae, rhythm and blues, pop, rock and Caribbean music.
Rankin Scroo, the Oakland, Calif., reggae and hip-hop pro- ducer (Black Uhuru, Too Short), produced and performs on three tracks. Fans of romantics such as Gregory Isaacs, Otis Redding and Bffly Ocean should appreciate the 12 well-crafted songs. A sly, after-midnight re- working of the Bread tune Make It With You is a standout.
Martin, who had performed in the popular Bay area bands Real Imposters and Colorblind, recalled his mood while writing the tunes: "I was fed up with the direction the music business was going. There was no music for my age group. Most of the music I heard would give you some sort of feeling, but it was a negative feeling, gangsta rap and all that."
Touring with an eight-piece band is expensive, but Martin said the emphasis on vocals in his music warrants the expense.
"I'm not one of those guys who likes to run sequences" behind the vocals, he said. "It doesn't sound as warm. You can tell it sounds hokey.
"We've hired two beautiful female singers — Joy Love and Joy King. They give the music so much reinforcement."
The band also includes bassist Jimi Fischer, who has worked with Al Jarreau and Aretha Franklin.
Martin hopes to tour exten- sively with the same band in the fall but wanted to return to his roots as soon as he could arrange the trip.
"It would have made more sense because I could have arranged to play more shows on the trip back to Ohio, but I'm doing this now for my mother. She's 82, and she's always supported everything I've done.
"My mom is always like 'When are you going to come back to Coshocton and play?' She's always really excited to tell her bingo buddies about what I've been doing.'" abeck@dispatch.com
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