REBECCA MARTIN’S “MOMENTOUS” ‘THE GROWING SEASON’ MARKS PERSONAL, MUSICAL AND CIVIC TRANSFORMATION

September 16, 2008 by Willis
Filed under Unsigned

Another band to my e-mail.

Rebecca Martin has been a musician for most of her life. But when she became a mom, she also became a community activist. As she changed, she changed her world, and out of that came her new CD ‘The Growing Season’, which critics are calling “momentous” and “captivating.”

Learn more about Rebecca’s transformation below, and listen to “The Space in a Song to Think,” from the CD: http://tinyurl.com/5lx58a

REBECCA MARTIN’S “MOMENTOUS” (NY Times) ‘THE GROWING SEASON’ MARKS PERSONAL, MUSICAL AND CIVIC TRANSFORMATION

Roles As Musician, Mother And Community Activist Help Inspire “Captivating” (Wall Street Journal) New CD

Growth isn’t always as obvious as a seedling poking through the soil in the spring. There is a natural and mysterious process - a subtle beauty that takes place in order for any living thing to reach its full potential. Rebecca Martin’s new CD, ‘The Growing Season’ (Sunnyside) recognizes this, and is itself “momentous, in the quietest possible way” (The New York Times).

Inspired by becoming the mother of a son (Charlie James, now almost three) Martin says, “The experience of becoming a mother is very cocoon-like. The new feelings of love, the life changes and responsibilities have transformed me completely. What is important and what isn’t is now crystal clear, and it’s made the room for me to go deeper into my truth in my life and my work.”

Coming from a large family in rural Maine, singing for Rebecca was “a way to get people to slow down - and listen.” In the early ’90s, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in music where she met Jesse Harris (Norah Jones, The Hottest State soundtrack). Together, they formed the critically acclaimed group Once Blue. “I experienced complete freedom in my songwriting working in Once Blue,” she recalls. “I wrote what I heard rather then what I thought others wanted to hear. It was the beginning of my journey inward and in trusting myself to birth an honest sentiment.”

Her songcraft grew after meeting her muse, bass player Larry Grenadier (Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau), and in 1997 they married. After a decade of living in New York City, the two settled down in upstate New York. Getting back to her rural roots brought Martin closer to the community mindset of her childhood, and she took on an active role in her community after Charlie was born, when she discovered the sale of dangerous knives at a local convenience store. She promptly organized a meeting where 100 citizens and several city officials came to show their support. Within a week, the knives were removed. This success encouraged Rebecca to build a neighborhood civic group, which spearheaded a citywide effort now known as KingstonCitizens.org.

Kingston continues to slowly transform itself by the community’s new active participation, which she calls “as important as taking care of your health.” Citizens in her neighborhood have taken the initiative to create a land trust, a food co-op and community gardens. “My work in music and the community are one in the same,” Martin explains. “They are both a public service requiring ongoing care and a clear intention. Both are truth-seeking tasks. Both can transform the way people think and act in the world.

“Leading by example has new meaning for me as a mom,” she continues. “I hope all of our works inspire Charlie to take good care of all that he has and all that will come to him in the future. It is true that these things are only on loan, and that it is our responsibility to return them in better shape then when they were entrusted to us.” This is mirrored in her song “The Space in a Song to Think,” the first track on ‘The Growing Season’: “Let this be learning/That we’re all allowed/To take what we need/And to give what is needed.”

Grenadier plays on ‘The Growing Season,’ as do drummer Brian Blade (Joni Mitchell, Wayne Shorter) and guitarist/pianist Kurt Rosenwinkel (who also produced the CD), to create a 13-song collection that, says The Wall Street Journal, “has a distinctly intimate feel…. the textures are captivating.”

All About Jazz raves: “Martin’s poetic lyrics, rich and sweet vocal delivery, and sophisticated songwriting arrangements continue to flow on The Growing Season. Her challenging writing of things worldly, things unseen, beauty, pain, learning, changing, and loving are as artfully rendered here as on any of her past recordings. She is still growing.”

# # #

Hear “The Space in a Song to Think”: http://tinyurl.com/5lx58a

Buy ‘The Growing Season’ CD:
http://stores.sunnysiderecordstore.com/-strse-401/016728117821-dsh-p-cln-cd-dsh-The%20Growing%20Seaso/Detail.bok

Buy ‘The Growing Season’ on iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=284417361&id=284417358&s=143441

Find out more about Kingston Citizens: http://www.kingstoncitizens.org/

Visit Rebecca Martin’s website: http://www.rebeccamartin.com

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