JANET MARTIN BIOGRAPHY

The story of a seasoned and professional musical veteran begins with diversity and a multitude of musical influences. This is what Janet Martin brings to her fans worldwide today. Janet began playing guitar and singing at the age of eight, performing in the church choir as well as in elementary school. Throughout her childhood, she was exposed to a rich American mix of bluegrass, gospel, blues and rock. Early influences include The Beatles and The Rolling Stones along with The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene. An outstanding guitarist with the ability to make time stand still, her approach and techniques are an amalgam of many minds. Jimmy Page, Bonnie Raitt, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Doc Watson all have a hand in shaping her singular and hypnotic guitar voice. From Ella Fitzgerald to KD Lang, from Memphis Minnie to Etta James, a listener hears the subtle kiss of each singer's breath in Janet Martin's vocal expressions. Solid foundations deep-rooted in fertile American musical soil and seeded with European interpretations help define and classify her as "music for Everyman."

Today, Janet is a career musician having released four extremely successful CDs. Her first work called "Just Wakin Up" incorporates flavors of Celtic, new age and folk and was representative of her earlier work in a band called The Rare. Her second "Cloud Cover" represents a time where Janet began to expand and experiment with her style of songwriting. "Cloud Cover" continues to receive airplay on satellite and cable radio stations both here in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom and continental Europe. 2004 saw the release of her third CD simply titled "Janet" and was primarily produced to satisfy her ever-growing fan base in France and Europe. The CD was a tremendous success. 2005 saw the release of her first live CD entitled "On Track". Containing brand new original songs and a few of her all time favorite cover versions. "On Track" is more than a showcase for Janet's wide range of talents and abilities; it is a master of understatement. On the night of the recording Janet chose to present herself to the audience of 2000 people in a truly simplistic manner, as a trio; Janet, her husband Michael on bass and percussionist Kris Krull. The performance was one of a kind, a truly memorable evening captured as it was recorded with no over dubbing. "On Track" is Janet's latest release and is proving itself to be yet another winner for Janet and her boys. All four releases have received praise from many national publications along with critical acclaim from fan and trade magazines in England, France, Spain and The Netherlands. Two successful tours of France in March/April 2004 and May/June 2005 have led to increasing exposure and popularity on the European continent.

In June and July of 2006 Janet, along with her 6-piece band opened up their European tour with a performance at The Paris Country Festival where she once again wowed her ever growing audience with an hour and a half set of all original material. The 2006 tour saw Janet and the guys finishing up with a show in Antwerp, Belgium before heading back to Paris for the flight back home to America. 2007 presents Janet and the band with yet another summer European festival/club tour; this time look for the band to be once again in France but also Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Janet, along with her husband Michael have been writing songs together for nearly ten years and have recently begun co-writing with veteran Los Angeles session musician and producer Steve Duncan. This “coming together of the minds” earned the three of them a publishing deal with legendary promoter, plugger, publisher Steven Sharp’s Sharp Objects Publishing with offices in Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. So look for the trio’s new songs to appear on Janet’s next CD and hopefully a few other artists’ releases as well.

The remaining months of 2006 will find Janet, Michael and Steve again sharpening their pencils and cranking out new material for Janet’s new CD. More touring in the U.S. is also in the plans, with an emphasis on the “center of the world”, New York City. Once again look for Janet’s New York dates to be handled by the inimitable Mike Briggs of Flood Zone Entertainment www.floodzone.com.

Janet has shared the stage with Chris Isaak, The Neville Brothers, Warren Zevon, Leon Russell, Tony Rice, The Lonesome River Band, Allison Krauss, The Good Humor Band, John Prine, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Burton, Liane Edwards, Charles “King” Arthur, Buddy Jewel, Elizabeth Cook, David Ball and BR 549 just to name a few.

It’s becoming almost common place during interviews that Janet, when asked what she thinks about the statement “Janet Martin plays guitar like a guy” will most often answer “yeah I know, but which guy?”