An interview with Martin upon his Independent Music Award nomination for Best Adult Contemporary Song for "Your Heart Will Be Broken Again" (2012)
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Martin talks with the folks at RiffRaff about the writing of Reliquary (2012)
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Thank Folk For That's review of Martin's album Reliquary (2012)
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Julia Albain's review of The Convalescence EP (2011)
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A story about the Campfire Sessions from 2009 when Craig Meyer and I were averaging 8 Campfires per week... (Buzzine's website no longer exists unfortunately, so this is a transcription)
BUZZINE
October 2009
Martin & Craig
Where There's Smoke...
by Julia Albain
Contributing Writer
It's not what they do; it's who they are...
When you are new to a city, when you have few friends in that city, and more importantly when it is a Friday night in New York City, you are supposed to "go out." But on this particular Friday night a couple of weeks ago, I was just...tired. The kind of tired you feel when you haven't gotten your city legs under you yet...you don't have the stamina to get through those long days and still have the turn-around for a bangin' night out. I laid on my designer air mattress, legs burning, thinking of every possible excuse I could make to get out of the invitation for dinner and drinks I had been extended. There were none. So I went. And oh...am I glad I did.
I walked into the Red Lion on Bleecker Street with my new acquaintances, and things were already looking up. Authentically Irish, I felt immediately at home and homesick all at once. I could only picture the mayhem that would ensue if my 50-plus-member Irish family were let loose in this joint. A couple of guys were setting up on a small stage, and a billing listed them as "Martin & Craig: The Campfire Session." The place was mostly empty at this point, but it was 7:00pm after all, and New Yorkers don't believe in eating before 9 o'clock anyway.
By the end of the night, empty it was not. These guys had the place going. Packed to the brim with people singing along and dancing if the whim caught them, the bar was full of joviality and cheer. I looked around and had to wonder, what was the force that had nestled so subtly over this place in the course of a few hours?
Simple. Two guys, a few instruments, and a whole lot of love and devotion for what they do. Martin Rivas and Craig Meyer have been rolling slightly under the radar for over four years with their Campfire Sessions. Playing nearly every night of the week all across Manhattan, and then traveling outward on the weekends for original shows and private events, they are, quite literally, living the dream. Rivas has put out two full albums in the past few years, most recently in collaboration with Meyer on Sea of Clouds. But the reason for their success is all in perspective.
The guys graciously agreed to meet and chat with me over coffee about a week after my first encounter with their music, and in under an hour, I realized why I had found myself so at home listening to their stuff. To put it simply, Rivas said, "It's not what we do...it's who we are." I don't know if he realized, in those words, that he was saying a lot. They are musicians in the truest sense, that they do it because they have to...it is like breathing. But beyond that, their vigor for life, for the opportunities they've had, and their "serendipitous" joining of forces infuses their music with an irresitible charm.
Their recently released original album, Sea of Clouds, available (and highly recommended) at www.martinrivas.net, is a satisfying mix of soul and innovation. Any original songs off of the album that they play live at campfire sessions blend perfectly with all of their covers, and at times, I caught myself thinking that I was listening to a well-known classic when, in actuality, it was a Martin and Craig original.
The Campfire Sessions, as I mentioned, consist of both original stuff and covers of about anything that the audience will pose the challenge of. Requests jotted on napkins and slipped to the stage are gathered by the guys and attempted with great bravado. Both Martin and Craig laughed when I asked if they would try anything...and said that they will to a degree, and they'll be the first to laugh at themselves for any failed attempts. If is the enjoyment of it, they pointed out to me. After over 1,000 shows played together, they are still primarily interested in whether or not they are both having fun and enjoying the music they are making. This carefree approach makes them inventive and impulsive with their sound—two key ingredients that so many artists miss out on. Recently, their labors of love have given them the chance to travel as far as St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they fondly reminisced over a soundcheck that included a quick dip in the beautiful Caribbean Sea, and even an extended summer tour across Ireland in 2008. Both of their eyes lit up remembering the throngs of Irish drinkers and show-attendees who "knew how to have fun."
As we wrapped up our chat before heading over for my second Campfire Session, this time at Slane on MacDougal Street, Craig slipped over discreetly to pay for both his and Martin's beverages. Martin laughingly explained how they are constantly trying to one-up each other and pay for one another. He pointed it out as a brotherly sort of thing. I asked him if that was the relationship at hand, and he lowered his voice slightly to say, "Absolutely. I don't think I could spend so much time with someone in a situation like this if there wasn't that bond." Craig described them as "a couple of nerds just floating along!"
I don't know about nerds, because as they got revved up to play at Slane (another place I found myself at home in), they were certainly well-known and loved. I sat at a table alone, waiting for the show to start, and I couldn't help but feel like I was sitting in someone's living room, as if I had been invited to a family reunion that wasn't mine. It was actually quite comforting. Both self-taught musicians, they are raw and naturally talented with a passion that is entrancing to watch. Rivas, on guitar and vocals, lends a unique and welcoming twist to everything he plays and sings with a voice that is enveloping, and Meyer owns his drums with such intensity that it is hard to look away when he gets going. In between sets, they took a quick break and I watched them make a mad dash outside for what I only assumed was the typical musicians' mid-show smoke break. But a few minutes later, they strolled back in, each with an innocent cup of ice cream from a couple shops down. Oh yeah, these are my kind of people. Break over, they picked back up and easily had us all swaying and singing once again.
All of this, though, stems back to the fact that they love, and I mean love, what they do. Perhaps that is the charm and influence that nagged at me all the way home after I first saw them play. They aren't "starving artists" in any of the mental, worn-down senses. I think to starve them would be to keep them from doing exactly what they are doing now. It is refreshing to see that light and spark in any artist's eyes that get to do what they were made to do day in and day out. I think good art, in all forms, thrives on that. This, my friends, is good art—soul-nourishing music. In a city sometimes devastatingly obsessed with image, appearance, and importance, these guys are proof that success and happiness is as simple as getting to do what you love. It is infectious and inspiring to any hopeful...whatever the hope may be.
Martin and Craig are in residency with their Campfire Sessions at Slane every Tuesday at 9:00pm, Prohibition (503 Columbus Avenue) every Wednesday at 9:00pm, and the Red Lion on Bleecker Fridays and Sundays around 7:00pm. Extensive show listings, more music, and delightful info about these gents can be found at www.martinrivas.net. Also, you can follow them on Twitter (don't hate, you'll love it once you go there) @NYCcampfire.
I could go on and on, and I have, but it goes without saying that checking out their music, attending a show, and supporting this duo in any way comes with my highest regards. Both Craig and Martin agreed that one of their favorite things about New York is the people and the energy they bring. These Campfire Sessions are the perfect place to experience exactly that. Gems like this deserve to be uncovered because, without them, New York City is nothing but a big loud town with no soul. That isn't the kind of city I've found it to be and I don't expect it will ever be. Still, though, I find myself in constant pursuit of the less-than-obvious, since that is where I've found myself most inspired and continually seduced by new new home away from home. If you are currently, or ever, in the New York area, do yourself the favor of joining the Campfire. You will most certainly leave lighter than you came.
October 2009
Martin & Craig
Where There's Smoke...
by Julia Albain
Contributing Writer
It's not what they do; it's who they are...
When you are new to a city, when you have few friends in that city, and more importantly when it is a Friday night in New York City, you are supposed to "go out." But on this particular Friday night a couple of weeks ago, I was just...tired. The kind of tired you feel when you haven't gotten your city legs under you yet...you don't have the stamina to get through those long days and still have the turn-around for a bangin' night out. I laid on my designer air mattress, legs burning, thinking of every possible excuse I could make to get out of the invitation for dinner and drinks I had been extended. There were none. So I went. And oh...am I glad I did.
I walked into the Red Lion on Bleecker Street with my new acquaintances, and things were already looking up. Authentically Irish, I felt immediately at home and homesick all at once. I could only picture the mayhem that would ensue if my 50-plus-member Irish family were let loose in this joint. A couple of guys were setting up on a small stage, and a billing listed them as "Martin & Craig: The Campfire Session." The place was mostly empty at this point, but it was 7:00pm after all, and New Yorkers don't believe in eating before 9 o'clock anyway.
By the end of the night, empty it was not. These guys had the place going. Packed to the brim with people singing along and dancing if the whim caught them, the bar was full of joviality and cheer. I looked around and had to wonder, what was the force that had nestled so subtly over this place in the course of a few hours?
Simple. Two guys, a few instruments, and a whole lot of love and devotion for what they do. Martin Rivas and Craig Meyer have been rolling slightly under the radar for over four years with their Campfire Sessions. Playing nearly every night of the week all across Manhattan, and then traveling outward on the weekends for original shows and private events, they are, quite literally, living the dream. Rivas has put out two full albums in the past few years, most recently in collaboration with Meyer on Sea of Clouds. But the reason for their success is all in perspective.
The guys graciously agreed to meet and chat with me over coffee about a week after my first encounter with their music, and in under an hour, I realized why I had found myself so at home listening to their stuff. To put it simply, Rivas said, "It's not what we do...it's who we are." I don't know if he realized, in those words, that he was saying a lot. They are musicians in the truest sense, that they do it because they have to...it is like breathing. But beyond that, their vigor for life, for the opportunities they've had, and their "serendipitous" joining of forces infuses their music with an irresitible charm.
Their recently released original album, Sea of Clouds, available (and highly recommended) at www.martinrivas.net, is a satisfying mix of soul and innovation. Any original songs off of the album that they play live at campfire sessions blend perfectly with all of their covers, and at times, I caught myself thinking that I was listening to a well-known classic when, in actuality, it was a Martin and Craig original.
The Campfire Sessions, as I mentioned, consist of both original stuff and covers of about anything that the audience will pose the challenge of. Requests jotted on napkins and slipped to the stage are gathered by the guys and attempted with great bravado. Both Martin and Craig laughed when I asked if they would try anything...and said that they will to a degree, and they'll be the first to laugh at themselves for any failed attempts. If is the enjoyment of it, they pointed out to me. After over 1,000 shows played together, they are still primarily interested in whether or not they are both having fun and enjoying the music they are making. This carefree approach makes them inventive and impulsive with their sound—two key ingredients that so many artists miss out on. Recently, their labors of love have given them the chance to travel as far as St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they fondly reminisced over a soundcheck that included a quick dip in the beautiful Caribbean Sea, and even an extended summer tour across Ireland in 2008. Both of their eyes lit up remembering the throngs of Irish drinkers and show-attendees who "knew how to have fun."
As we wrapped up our chat before heading over for my second Campfire Session, this time at Slane on MacDougal Street, Craig slipped over discreetly to pay for both his and Martin's beverages. Martin laughingly explained how they are constantly trying to one-up each other and pay for one another. He pointed it out as a brotherly sort of thing. I asked him if that was the relationship at hand, and he lowered his voice slightly to say, "Absolutely. I don't think I could spend so much time with someone in a situation like this if there wasn't that bond." Craig described them as "a couple of nerds just floating along!"
I don't know about nerds, because as they got revved up to play at Slane (another place I found myself at home in), they were certainly well-known and loved. I sat at a table alone, waiting for the show to start, and I couldn't help but feel like I was sitting in someone's living room, as if I had been invited to a family reunion that wasn't mine. It was actually quite comforting. Both self-taught musicians, they are raw and naturally talented with a passion that is entrancing to watch. Rivas, on guitar and vocals, lends a unique and welcoming twist to everything he plays and sings with a voice that is enveloping, and Meyer owns his drums with such intensity that it is hard to look away when he gets going. In between sets, they took a quick break and I watched them make a mad dash outside for what I only assumed was the typical musicians' mid-show smoke break. But a few minutes later, they strolled back in, each with an innocent cup of ice cream from a couple shops down. Oh yeah, these are my kind of people. Break over, they picked back up and easily had us all swaying and singing once again.
All of this, though, stems back to the fact that they love, and I mean love, what they do. Perhaps that is the charm and influence that nagged at me all the way home after I first saw them play. They aren't "starving artists" in any of the mental, worn-down senses. I think to starve them would be to keep them from doing exactly what they are doing now. It is refreshing to see that light and spark in any artist's eyes that get to do what they were made to do day in and day out. I think good art, in all forms, thrives on that. This, my friends, is good art—soul-nourishing music. In a city sometimes devastatingly obsessed with image, appearance, and importance, these guys are proof that success and happiness is as simple as getting to do what you love. It is infectious and inspiring to any hopeful...whatever the hope may be.
Martin and Craig are in residency with their Campfire Sessions at Slane every Tuesday at 9:00pm, Prohibition (503 Columbus Avenue) every Wednesday at 9:00pm, and the Red Lion on Bleecker Fridays and Sundays around 7:00pm. Extensive show listings, more music, and delightful info about these gents can be found at www.martinrivas.net. Also, you can follow them on Twitter (don't hate, you'll love it once you go there) @NYCcampfire.
I could go on and on, and I have, but it goes without saying that checking out their music, attending a show, and supporting this duo in any way comes with my highest regards. Both Craig and Martin agreed that one of their favorite things about New York is the people and the energy they bring. These Campfire Sessions are the perfect place to experience exactly that. Gems like this deserve to be uncovered because, without them, New York City is nothing but a big loud town with no soul. That isn't the kind of city I've found it to be and I don't expect it will ever be. Still, though, I find myself in constant pursuit of the less-than-obvious, since that is where I've found myself most inspired and continually seduced by new new home away from home. If you are currently, or ever, in the New York area, do yourself the favor of joining the Campfire. You will most certainly leave lighter than you came.