Music at the Martin

Ray Abshire ~ Authentic Cajun Music
2009-08-29 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Martin Hotel, 94 W Railroad St, Winnemucca, NV, 89445
Ray Abshire is one of Cajun music’s purest accordionists and vocalists and a living link to it’s very roots. A member of one of Louisiana’s legendary musical families, Ray grew up surrounded by Cajun music’s pioneer artists. He has performed with most all of the old masters whose recordings now form the texts for students of today. In 1975, while at the pinnacle of Cajun music as accordionist with the legendary “Balfa Brothers Band” and helping to open windows for Cajun music in the nation’s musical consciousness, Ray left the bandstand. Abshire’s return to the stage has been hailed by both critics and fans alike. He is once again at the forefront and sharing his knowledge and skills with a new generation.
Recognized as a master musician and one of the resurgence leaders of Cajun music, Ray now enjoys conducting workshops, teaching at music camps and performing at major festivals both nationally and abroad. Ray’s music is unfiltered and has it’s own wholesome electricity. He plays it the way it was handed down to him and understands the importance of preserving one of this nation’s great “folk” musics. Each and every time you attend a Ray Abshire performance you are guaranteed the “real deal”!

Literary Nevada: Writings from the Silver State
2009-08-10 19:00 - 2009-10-05 21:00 | NV
Cheryll Glotfelty, CASE-Carnegie Professor of the Year for Nevada and Associate Professor of English, University of Nevada, Reno, will be holding a series of public humanities talks and conversations in Northern Nevada based on Literary Nevada: Writings from the Silver State. Literary Nevada is the first comprehensive anthology of Nevada literature. The events are co-sponsored by Nevada Humanities and the University of Nevada Press.
Talks will discuss Nevada through the lens of its literary heritage and include a conversation with the audience about Nevada’s stories. A focal point of the conversation will be about living in Nevada and its rural communities, and the stories that help us “re-see” our place.
Cheryll Glotfelty has published widely on western American literature in periodicals, essay collections, and reference works. Twelve years of literary sleuth-work went into the making of Literary Nevada: Writings from the Silver State, recently published by the University of Nevada Press.
“This book is a wonderful gift to Nevada’s people, to westerners in general, and to a confused nation seeking to understand its roots. It’s full of vivid, compelling storytelling that can lead readers to an imaginative understanding of Nevada and western life and literature as they have evolved. This is a very special defining book. We inhabit our own nation, and its literature is beginning to get due recognition. This book will be an important part of that movement.”
–William Kittredge, editor of The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology

The Crooked Jades Familiar Old-Time Embraced by the Strange
2009-08-07 19:30 - 21:30 | Martin Hotel, 94 W Railroad St, Winnemucca, NV, 89445
“Grounded in tradition, old-time string band music and mountain blues but with open horizons that take them, subtly, to other parts of the planet, they have a haunting spookiness, an organic pulse, and most importantly a clear vision…Instrumentally they’re truly inspiring, getting original textures out of conventional stringband instruments and mixing them with (in this context) oddities like bass ukulele, harmonium, mbira, cello and Vietnamese jaw harp and bau zither. Vocally, they have that lonesome white blues sound which has its ancestry in Dock Boggs and the Carters but again they take it somewhere else…a consistently startling and addictive album.”
– The Crooked Jades “Shining Darkness” Reviewed by Ian Anderson
in UK magazine f ROOTS
Performing driving dance tunes and haunting ballads with an amazing array of vintage and eclectic instruments, The Crooked Jades are modern innovators in the old-time Americana world, creating a cinematic sound based on Americana roots infused with the diverse musical influences of Europe and Africa.
On a mission to reinvent old world music, they bring their soulful performances (brilliantly suprising arrangements of obscure old tunes mixed with beautiful original compositions) to clubs, concert halls and festivals around the united States and Europe.
Based in San Francisco, founded by leader Jeff Kazor and nurtured by the vibrant West coast, California and Ba Area bluegrass and old-time music scenes, the Crooked Jades play with a thrilling and hyponotic energy which has inspired director Sean Penn to include a turn from World’s on Fire ih his most recent film Into the Wild, fans on their feet dancing and critics comparing them to everyone from the New Lost City Ramblers and The Pouges to Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Gillian Welch.
Appealing as much to the pierced generation as to their great-grandparents, this is sepia tones, bent angles, unexpected accents, unanticipated sounds. It’s banjo ukeuleles, minstrel banjos, plucked fiddles, bowed basses, Hawaiian slide guitars, harmoniums and Vietnamese jaw harps together in fiery, artful, harmony.

Jackstraw ~ Bluegrass
2009-05-04 19:00 - 2009-05-16 21:00 | Martin Hotel, 94 W Railroad St, Winnemucca, NV, 89445
When Jackstraw last performed to a sold out house at the Martin Hotel in December 2005, the audience, along with Jesse, Dave, Jon, and Darrin, were all left breathless, and grinning from ear to ear. We’ve had dozen’s of astonishing shows and hundreds of talented artists perform on our stage and these guys are right at the top. We can’t think of anything more joyous than spending another evening with Jackstraw.
A stand-up bass, mandolin, and two guitars, this is a bluegrass band with a unique approach to traditional bluegrass and traditional county music along with a suitcase full of great original tunes.
Intensity, dexterity, and pure joy
It’s what they call: High Energy Acoustic Bluegrass from the Pacific Northwest.
Give them a listen at Jackstraw’s MySpace page.
SEATS FOR THIS SHOW ARE BOUND TO SELL-OUT SO GET YOURS TODAY!
About Jackstraw
After ten years on the road and five albums, Jackstraw is a Northwest institution. This coal-fired Portland quartet plays the kind of music as deep and old as the silt washing out of a defunct Appalachian strip mine. Most of the time it’s bluegrass, but not always. As often as the boys rip through a Stanley Brothers chestnut, they tap into their own deep collection of originals, swerve into honky-tonk or barn-burn a rock ‘n roll classic.
Throughout the band’s history, critics have been quick to praise their energy and speed, often drawing comparisons to punk music. It’s true, Jackstraw does play fast. But the band never replaces musical depth and feeling with showmanship. Jackstraw is not afraid to explore new territory, but they won’t turn on their musical forbears and the hallmarks of bluegrass –great songs, great picking, and great singing. It is this steadfast adherence to their principles that has kept Jackstraw fans coming back for a decade and consistently wins the band new hearts.
A Jackstraw show is truly an inclusive, multi-generational experience. The band’s devoted following includes bluegrass purists, alt-country fans, kids who want to dance, and people who know a good tune when they hear one. Jackstraw was born when rhythm guitarist Darrin Craig and lead player Jon Neufeld met mandolin picker David Pugh and bassist Jesse Withers in 1997 at Artichoke Music, a Portland guitar store and acoustic music institution. Not long after their formation, Jackstraw recorded their first album and hit the road.
Five records later, the band has toured throughout the United States, playing roadhouses, listening rooms and clubs as well as festival stages. Along the way, they have shared bills with many bluegrass greats such as Del McCoury and Tim O’Brien and included legends like Danny Barnes (Bill Frissell, Robert Earl Keen, Bad Livers) and Tony Furtado (Earl Scruggs, Alison Krauss) as temporary band mates.

Colin Ross ~ Evolution of the Blues
2009-04-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Martin Hotel, 94 W Railroad St, Winnemucca, NV, 89445
Evolution of the Blues is a presentation sponsored in part by the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius
From its earliest roots to contemporary musical fusion, the Blues is the common thread in American music. Drawing from a vast repertoire of music played on a variety of traditional instruments, Colin Ross puts on an unforgettable show.
The show traces the history of the blues through an astonishing variety of styles. Whether it is energetic old time stride and boogie, the harmonic complexity of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, the gentle roll of Mississippi John Hurt, or the driving sting of Muddy Waters, the music is played with uncompromising technique, integrity, and soul.
Reno based composer and multi-instrumentalist Colin Ross plays a large and ever-shifting repertoire of original music, jazz standards and blues classics. Beginning with classical piano at the age of five, Colin has continued to study and grow throughout his career, playing a variety of instruments and styles. While maintaining a full time performance schedule, Colin has recorded and released five CDs on his own label, Oharaross Productions. Colin’s band features piano, electric, acoustic, 12-string and slide guitars, bass, drums, percussion, vocal harmonies, winds, and various folk and electronic instruments.
$10 Tickets are ON SALE NOW at The Martin Hotel and Nature’s Corner.
Here is a brief video of the “Evolution of the Blues Show” at the Brewery Arts Center in Carson City.

Chris Cain ~ Blues Guitar Master
2009-03-14 19:00 - 21:00 | Martin Hotel, 94 W Railroad St, Winnemucca, NV, 89445
$10 Tickets are ON SALE NOW
at Nature’s Corner and The Martin Hotel
Chris Cain’s jazz-tinged, blues soaked guitar and deep, warm vocals have the maturity and authenticity of bluesmen many years his senior. His expressive style is the result of a lifetime of study and the relentless pursuit of music mastery. His passion and intensity are a blend of his mother’s Greek ancestry and his father’s soulful black heritage.
Cain was raised on stories of his father’s childhood upbringing on Memphis’ Historic Beale Street and attended his first B.B. King concert at the tender age of three. Blues music played continuously on the home stereo and family outings were often trips to concerts. Cain recalls, “I remember when I was a kid, my Dad would be mowing the lawn with the stereo blasting Muddy Waters. When I look back, that was pretty cool! There was always music playing at our house, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Freddie King, Albert King, all the greats.”
At the age of eight, Cain taught himself to play guitar and began playing professionally before he was eighteen. Chris studied music at San Jose City College, and was soon teaching jazz improvisation on campus. Over the next twenty years, Cain would also master piano, bass guitar, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone. The combination of his blues upbringing and his jazz studies melded to form the searing guitar style that sets Chris Cain apart and has moved him to the top ranks of the blues music scene.
Cain’s debut recording, Late Night City Blues (Blue Rock’it Records-1987) garnered four W.C. Handy Blues Award nominations, including “Guitarist of the Year”. Dan Forte of Guitar Player wrote, “An impressive debut album by a top notch guitarist.” Cain’s next two releases; “Cuttin Loose” (Blind Pig Records-1990) and “Can’t Buy a Break” (Blind Pig Records-1992) collected a long list of awards and accolades. In August of 1995 Blind Pig released “Somewhere Along the Way” his 4th compilation of his unique brand of original music sophisticated blues, funk, jazz and gospel.
In 2003 Patrick Ford produced Chris’s latest CD, “Hall Of Shame” (Blue Rock’it Records-2003). “…this is now the sixth Chris Cain solo release I have produced, not to mention his work with me on projects like the Ford Blues Bands’ “In Memory Of Michael Bloomfield” CD, and I continue to be in awe of his incredible talent. As a guitarist/singer, Chris has been praised by mentors like Albert King and peers like Robben Ford.”
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Larry Nager (syndicated Scripts-Howard music critic) writes, “Nowadays most young blues players are Strat-wielding Stevie Ray Vaughan-a-bes. Not Chris Cain. With a voice that recalls B.B. King and a thick toned Gibson guitar sound reminiscent of Albert King, Cain is forging a unique style. With his own highly personalized songwriting, “Hall Of Shame” is a giant step in the development of one of the most compelling young bluesmen on today’s scene.”
Through his guitar mastery and remarkable songwriting ability, Chris Cain has established himself as a musical force to be reckoned with. And as San Jose Mercury News music reviewer John Orr writes, “more than anyone else, anywhere, Chris Cain represents the future of the blues.”
