FRANK GAYER MARTIN: In The Slanting Light

Frank Gayer Martin

In The Slanting Light

© 2002 Frank G Martin (634479172724)

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3rd place finisher in the 2006 Teluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour Contest and 4th place finisher in 2002 Rocky Mtn Folk Festival Songwriters Showcase delivers songs with an edge on the themes of love, redemption and land for those who love Americana

tracks

1 Water
2 She Never Gave In
3 The Man Who Played Mandolin
4 I Need You
5 Mollie
6 (I'm A) Freeborn Man
7 Rebecca
8 Fire Burning Still
9 Old Black Mud
10 Redwings

notes

The new CD, Postmark, is here! Please see the link to POSTMARK on the lower left.

"Frank Martin is a rarity. Dexterous as a player, writer and singer, he is thoughtful and skilled in his approach and passionate in his delivery. He is a unique, first-class musical personality."
-Tom Kimmel
www.tomkimmel.com


"In the Slanting Light," in fact, sounds just right - a touch rough, but warm and homespun....
- Stewart Oksenhorn
The Aspen Times, 8/23/02

Martin's songs do, indeed, have a simplicity to them that seems to come with age and experience. "The Man Who Played Mandolin" is the best example, a song that looks back over a life with perspective and intelligence. "She Never Gave In" is a country-rocker that pays tribute to the resolve of a woman who has had a tough time in life. In "Rebecca," Martin takes on the persona of a woman recalling her failed romance, and it comes off authentic and touching. "(I'm a) Freeborn Man" tells the story of a man overcoming the gloom ? "All this rain coming down, it doesn't bode well" - by force of spirit, and the lively Cajun rhythm is a perfect match for the lyrics.
- Stewart Oksenhorn
The Aspen Times, 8/23/02

About Frank Gayer Martin

Named after his grandfather, Frank Gayer, a Baptist preacher from Louisiana, Frank Gayer Martin was born in Houston in 1958. His family moved to Colorado Springs in 1965. Frank began playing guitar at 13 - a bit of black sheep in a family of classical musicians (mother, violin and viola; sisters, piano and cello).

After a year of engineering school in Wyoming, he returned to Colorado to play music full time and was soon swept up by friends into the music of Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Bill Monroe, Merle Haggard and the like. Too much Hee Haw at an early age, perhaps.

Frank later pursued photography and graphic design and has worked for newspapers, magazines and design agencies in the Roaring Fork Valley, his home since 1981. Frank played rock and roll and R & B for many years in the local dives, and continues to play with the Sirens, an eight-piece wedding and party band, as well as Matt Johnson and Boneyard. He currently lives between Carbondale and Glenwood Springs with his two sons.

This summer Frank finished 4th in the Songwriters Showcase at the Lyons Folk Festival and released his first CD, In the Slanting Light.

reviews

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  • Feel the Pure Water from Frank Gayer Martin
    author: Morihide Kimura

    I heard Frank Gayer Martin's song from the radio program in Jan, 2003. For a half year, at last I take this album. My friend says "A man feels the music after a while. The music will be forever." This is real thing. If you want to away from mixed sounds that is made of fixed plan to sell some market, these songs will ring your heart bell. I want to hear his Mandolin more! because he is the man who play Mandolin. Thank you very much.

  • In The Slanting Light is a rich collection of stories
    author: Patrick Nagel

    Frank Gayer Martin's, In The Slanting Light, is a rich collection of stories well worth hearing over and over, again. Wrapped around an acoustic guitar picked with authority, electric and slide guitar played with precision, and vocals that at once soothe, while they demand your attention, these stories come alive with an energy that draws the listener directly where Mr. Martin intends them to go. From the first wave of acoustic flatpicking in Water to the haunting strains of the slide guitar in Redwings, one is treated to a series of vignettes clearly drawn and purposefully written. Water creates a palatable thirst through its varied imagery. You see the dried creek beds, the shallow sadness of the nearly empty reservoir, and the dead and dying livestock on the open range. These are not the images that usually come to mind when picturing the mighty Rocky Mountains, but Mr. Martin conveys them with honesty and a plainspoken voice. I Need You, flashes images of the mundane at you in grocery list style. Their importance is in question until the chorus reveals their significance, and the meaning of life's trinkets when those with whom we share them come up missing, is understood. There is a bluesy feel to the selections as well, which draws upon deep sought after rhythms that resonate deep within the soul's province. Mollie, (I'm a) Freeborn Man, Fire Burning Still, and Old Black Mud, remind you that the blues originally created through the experience of slaves, now resides in the collective consciousness of American music. Images of strong women are included here as well. Rebecca, recalls a time of buckboards and river pilots in 19th century Americana. The portrait here is one of a grizzled and experienced frontier woman, making a life for herself with the strength of her own hands and immutable heart. And doing this long before the events at Seneca Falls, N.Y. She Never Gave In, displays a woman of extraordinary resources, who will no doubt go down fighting and raging against that good night. The Man Who Played Mandolin, speaks unapologetically about the potentially tidal tendencies of love, marriage, and life. Finally, Redwings, captures the imagination with its photo quality image of the setting sun slanting through reeds lining an irrigation ditch. Walking along that ditch we are confronted with one of life's seeming dichotomies: whether to settle down with the security of place, "like a fencepost set in tight," or to join with the "redwings taking flight." The answer appears to be yes to both, and the haunting slide guitar leaves us to carry the melody and the question, in our hearts long after the music has stopped. Mr. Martin's adept lyrics, rich instrumentation, and soothing voice create a pleasing tapestry of story and music. I very much look forward to his next collection, because In The Slanting Light, is a prominent selection in my CD player.

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