Album Notes

Barclay Martin

A traveler by nature, Barclay Martin's music has always reflected experiences wrought from taking the road less traveled. Having spent over three years of his life living abroad, his songs speak of the ties that bind people-their hope and joy, sorrow and struggle. He weaves stories throughout his shows, looking intimately into the places and the events that brought them about.

Formerly of the Michigan-based folk/bluegrass quintet Potato Moon, Martin left the band in 2002 in order to embark on a trip to Latin America and to continue the development of his songwriting individually. Through his background as a troubadour and adventurer, he has become aware of the richness and beauty of the greater world firsthand.

A Kansas City native, Martin is taking to the road again-this time on a 10-month tour of the United States in support of his solo record "Promise on a String". The record is, in many respects, a convergence of his background in homegrown music and the experiences taken from years of learning through travel. A blend of folk, jazz, pop and bluegrass, it is an honest, organic sound, which calls upon the ancient tones that reverberate through the halls of American music.


"If James Taylor had been born into the Krauss Family, his music might sound something like what Barclay Martin produces...his forthcoming album, "Promise on a String"...has the immediacy of a guitar-shop hootenanny, with Martin's acoustic six-string ceding plenty of space for violin, double bass and percussion. But the Kansas Citian's voice, a dry, unaffected tenor that conveys both youthful whimsy and grown-up ardor-like James Taylor without the heroin-is the main attraction."
Scott Wilson, The Pitch, December 9-15, 2004