It’s hard to say what will happen, and how this will end
7:00 PM, Friday, April 27, 2018

Purchase your $10 tickets Now! On-line from The Martin Hotel Tickets are also available at our walkup outlets, The Martin Hotel, Nature’s Corner and Global Coffee in Winnemucca.

We met Thomas Deakin  in March of 2016 when he appeared at the Martin as part of the wonderfully odd duo Deakin Hicks, with his buddy and mystical music man Lucas Hicks. We had a very small audience that night that experienced this Chromatic Button Accordion and Clarinet duo perform “original compositions and improvisations twisted together in a unique blend of tone, time, and delight”. Do check it out. They sat down on two five gallon plastic buckets, we drew the seats of up close, and we all enjoyed one of the best and most unusual concerts ever featured at the Martin. Sadly Lucas Hicks lost his 14 year battle against cancer last October, Thomas lost his musical partner, and Deakin Hicks was lost to the world.

Thomas Deakin has now joined up with New Orleans based avant-garde jazz keyboardist and singer Stephanie Nilles and we suspect that something highly interesting is going to happen when this duo hits the back room at the Martin.  Just give this video a listen, and imagine Mr. Deakin’s clarinet, saxophone, or trumpet, wrapped in and around Ms. Nilles in place of the bass.

Chicago-born jazz/punk/barrelhouse musician Stephanie Nilles has been doin’ Kesey proud one bar at a time since 2008, hustling around the United States, Europe, and Canada (except from 2009-2010 for legal reasons), averaging 150 gigs a year, and captivating unsuspecting listeners with a voice that would make Jelly Roll Morton look orthodox and Ma Rainey look sober.

Having studied piano and cello since the age of six, she was a finalist at the Young Concert Artists’ International Competition, a gold medalist at the Fischoff Competition, and had performed on NPR on three occasions by the age of seventeen. At twenty-two, she had graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a degree in classical piano performance and temporarily relocated to New York City, where she began writing songs and performed regularly on the east village anti-folk scene while making a living working odd jobs as a dog walker, valet parking attendant, Italian coffee bar barista, ghostwriter, and research assistant to a blind bioethicist at an all boys’ Jewish university.

She has since sung with Bobby McFerrin in Carnegie Hall, directed the musical program of a Brooklyn burlesque series, covered Busta Rhymes’ “Break Ya Neck” in the skeletal remains of a bombed-out cathedral in Nuremberg, been invited to perform official showcases at SXSW and International Folk Alliance, and self-released 5 full-length albums, three of which were picked up for European release by German roots/blues label Tradition und Moderne (Taj Mahal, John Fahey).

When Stephanie’s not sleeping in her car, she lives in New Orleans, which might not be the best idea.

Here are eight tracks from Stephanie Nilles:

Unplugged Blend of Country, Jazz, Folk and Bluegrass
7:00 PM, Saturday, March 31, 2018

Purchase your $15 tickets Now! On-line from The Martin Hotel Tickets are also available at our walkup outlets, The Martin Hotel, Nature’s Corner and Global Coffee in Winnemucca.

 

Blending country, jazz, folk, and bluegrass music with a great lineup of musicians, Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally’s Band brings original tunes and classic gems to Music at the Martin. They are old friends and we look forward to their return. Please join us.

The “beloved Bay Area bluegrass stars” (San Jose Mercury News) have been featured on Prairie Home Companion, at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, the PBS series Music Gone Public, Kate Wolf Music Festival and Strawberry Music Festival.

“Nell Robinson and Jim Nunally love the road, and they revel in the adventure of uncovering new corners of this old world that people call home.” — NO DEPRESSION

Nell Robinson has been described as one of the freshest voices in roots music. Jim Nunally is a San Francisco Bay Area-native, a musician, composer, record producer, and teacher. Jim joins master American guitarists Doc Watson and Tony Rice as one of the finest interpreters and performers of bluegrass and traditional music. Jim Kerwin is considered simply one of the best string bass players in the country. Playing with David Grisman for over 30 years, he is featured on all of Grisman’s Jerry Garcia recordings. Jon Arkin is a versatile, gifted percussionist who is known for his performances & recorded work in a wide variety of musical contexts. He has performed with jazz greats such as Lee Konitz, Gene Perla, and Ira Sullivan. Renowned San Francisco musician and accordion player Rob Reich joined the band in 2017 and is best known for his work with Tin Hat, Gaucho, and Circus Bella. This is truly an all-star band!

7:00 PM Saturday, February 17, 2018

FROM SCOTLAND’S OUTER ISLANDS AND IRELAND’S WEST, SOME OF AMERICA’S MOST AUTHENTIC MUSICAL HERITAGE IS COMING TO WINNEMUCCA.

The folk duo, Men of Worth, who position themselves firmly at the extreme, traditional end of the Celtic music spectrum, will perform at the Martin Hotel on Saturday, February 17.

Men of Worth’s tunes and songs are so authentic, so closely connected to their heritage, that Scotsman Donnie Macdonald sings some in his native Gaelic; while Irishman James Keigher includes time-polished pieces saved from the oral traditions of his native County Mayo.

Purchase your tickets on-line from the Martin Hotel Tickets are also available at our walkup outlets.

“Our music has its history in the crofting life of my Hebridean homeland and James’ western Ireland. It was a part of the fabric of everyday life and it came to America with the immigrants a century ago”, explained Macdonald. “Now, we’re playing it again, to audiences for whom it could only be a generational memory”.

“For us, the irony is we were brought up in Scotland and Ireland, and as boys we listened most eagerly to the music of America, and not especially to the music of own areas. On our radios, we heard Hank Williams Sr. and Jim Reeves. We wanted to see the Arkansas River, not Loch Lomond, and Reeves’ hometown of Carthage, in east Texas, had more romance for me than did the Isle of Lewis”. “Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Crosby, Stills and Nash influenced me greatly”, admitted Keigher, who as a teen was already performing his own songs in the Irish pubs where he learned his wit and humor. “But now I have returned to my own musical bloodlines, too.”

The pair could not escape the emotion and tradition of their homeland song heritage. “We could not grow away from those sounds”, said Macdonald, “so we have preserved them as accurately and authentically as we can, in our performances”. “We entertain people with the real music of our regions; we have an ancient yet fresh musical story to tell”.

Sometimes that music comes from prosaic sources – Keigher wrote one song after overhearing two old ladies gossiping about him in a village market – and sometimes from traditional music passed down the generations. Several of Macdonald’s songs come from his mother’s own poetry and from Hebridean crofters’ airs.

The musicians, who met in California in 1988, each play a handful of instruments, among them mandolin, guitar, concertina and bodhran, a handheld drum. They are both married to Americans and live on the west coast. Keigher lives in Ashland, Oregon and Macdonald lives near Sacramento, California.

They have played concerts across the US, from Alaska to Texas. They also take guided tours to their own musical roots: leading folk fans to the western isles of Scotland and to Ireland’s heartland to hear the real music of the isles in its own home.

If you can’t make that journey, you can hear the music when these talented troubadours bring it to you, February 17.

Easy Rollin’ Old-Time Country
7:00 PM, Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Purchase your tickets Now! On-line from The Martin Hotel Tickets are also available at our walkup outlets, The Martin Hotel, Nature’s Corner and Global Coffee in Winnemucca.

The Caleb Klauder Country Band represents the best of the Northwest music scene. Caleb has been touring nationally and internationally for over 15 years and has been involved with some of the region’s most iconic bands, such as Calobo and The Foghorn Stringband.

Today, leading with vocals, guitar, and a mandolin, Caleb hosts some of the northwest’s best singers and players creating a honky-tonk band that stands out as a totem in the country music scene. The band performs Caleb’s praised original songs right alongside classics from George Jones, The Louvin Brothers and Dolly
Parton, all at once sounding timeless, fresh, and alive. There is a drive to his music that makes it unique and captivating. This is country music made for people who want to have fun and who want to dance, harkening back to the old dance hall days when people of all walks of life came together to simply dance, socialize, and enjoy
live music.

Band members include Jesse Emerson on upright bass, Ned Folkerth on drums, Reeb Willms on vocals and guitar, Russ Blake on pedal steel and electric guitar, and Sam Weiss on fiddle, all of whom contribute to the vibrant northwest music
scene in various other bands. Raised on Orcas Island, Washington and now living in Portland, Oregon, Caleb is a true north westerner, yet his maternal family roots lay in East Tennessee. His mother, originally from Knoxville, moved her family out west when Caleb was only a year old. These deep family roots contribute to Caleb?s music, tapping into old memories to bring you the strong singing and spirited attitude that give his music an edge that is both cutting and sweet.

7:00 PM Wednesday, December 27, 2017

The $15.00 seats are on sale now online atthemartinhotel.com.  Tickets are also available at our walkup outlets, The Martin Hotel, Nature’s Corner and Global Coffee in Winnemucca.

We’re excited to host Colorado’s The River Arkansas for a show at the Martin Hotel two days after Christmas.  They are just starting a West Coast tour and we’ll be the second stop, they play the first night in Park City.

The River Arkansas is a five piece Americana/Roots & Folk/Country ensemble comprised of guitar/banjo/harmonica, upright bass, violin, piano/pump organ, drums and group/harmony vocals. They have two self-released albums out, with a third due to be released in the spring of 2018.

Fronted by Mike Clark, and performing his original tunes, the band delivers a mixture of heartfelt country, blues, folk, and Americana, inspired by the river that flows by his house in Pueblo, Colorado.

7:00 PM Saturday, December 2, 2017

The $15.00 seats are on sale now online at themartinhotel.com.  Tickets are also available at our walkup outlets, The Martin Hotel, Nature’s Corner and Global Coffee in Winnemucca.

 

Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms form a powerful vocally-driven duo whose sound is lifted by Caleb’s distinctive and lyrical mandolin playing, (he even picks up the fiddle from time to time) and driven by Reeb’s unwavering guitar playing. They perform original songs and tunes as well as their favorite old gems from traditional and country repertoires. Both originally hail from Washington State: Caleb from Orcas Island, and Reeb from the Waterville Plateau. They met at the Weiser National Old Time Fiddle Contest, and after singing a few songs together, knew that they had to keep doing just that.

They tour regionally and internationally bringing a pure and honest sound to both the Foghorn Stringband and the Caleb Klauder Band. Your ears will be ready for the timeless music that these two deliver, rooted in the essence of American roots while bestowing a few new chestnuts to the canon. They have been featured on NPR Music, A Prairie Home Companion, and their albums get played on radio stations around the globe.

---

Here is a three song playlist.

We just found the first pair, circa 2012, Caleb and Reeb have only recently teamed up, and these performances are stunning.   They feature Caleb’s masterful mandolin playing along with Reeb’s rock solid rhythm guitar, then Reeb sings a haunting solo.

The third tune is more recent, from the Pumphouse Session at Pickathon.   Have a look and listen.

 

“Sassy Sister Folk – Beautiful Voices and Wonderful Harmonies”

Friday, October 13, 2017
7:00 PM at the Martin Hotel

Purchase your $15 tickets Now! On-line from The Martin Hotel or you can also buy them at our walkup outlets: The Martin Hotel, Nature’s Corner, and Global Coffee.

The T Sisters are an Oakland, mostly acoustic, Americana sextet built around the vocal harmonies of sisters Erika, Rachel and Chloe Tietjen. With one foot steeped in old-time bluegrass tradition and the other stepping forward, blazing their own stylistic path.

The T Sisters, born and raised in California and now based in the creative hub of Oakland, embody harmony. It’s in their blood, bones, and history. Erika, Rachel and Chloe have been singing and writing music together since childhood, and the lifetime of practice shows.

The three sisters’ inventive songwriting is supported by their own acoustic instrumentation as well as upright bass (Steve Height), mandolin/guitar (Andrew Allen Fahlander), and drums (Marlon Aldana). Their sound represents a continuum of music, from traditional to pop influences, moments of breathtaking a cappella to swells of energetic indie Americana.

In the last two years, they’ve been honored to support such acts as Amos Lee, The Wood Brothers, Todd Rundgren, The Waybacks, Laurie Lewis, ALO, Elephant Revival, The California Honeydrops, and more. Notable performances include Merlefest, Kate Wolf Music Festival, High Sierra Music Festival, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (support role), Sisters Folk Festival, Strawberry Music Festival, Americana Music Association Festival, Music City Roots, and Garrison Keillor’s ‘A Prairie Home Companion’.

Following their 2014 debut album Kindred Lines (produced by folk/bluegrass legend Laurie Lewis), the T Sisters released their self-titled full-length album in October of 2016. T Sisters has already received extensive airplay leading to a top position in the Roots Music Reports and continues to climb in the Americana Charts.

“A Weird Aggregation of Old Time
Americana, Chamber Music, and Jazz”

Saturday, August 12, 2016
7:00 PM at the Martin Hotel

Purchase your $15 tickets Now! On-line from The Martin Hotel or you can also buy them at our walkup outlets: The Martin Hotel, Nature’s Corner, and Global Coffee.

3hattrio (three hat trio) plays American Desert Music. Their aim is to create a new music which responds to the natural world of their sacred homeland near Zion National Park in southern Utah. They also strive to acknowledge the cultural traditions of generations of people who have worked and lived on the deserts of the American southwest. The subject matter of the songs is often desert oriented, sometimes not. Mostly, they express the desert experientially from a daily-ness of watching light off distant mesas and hearing the way sound plays off sheer sandstone cliffs. Then they play music. They don’t over-think it. The music is spacious, atmospheric, mirage-like, spiced with old-time cowboy, classical, jazz, and Caribbean overtones.

Hal Cannon sings, plays banjo and guitar and writes many of the 3hattrio songs. He’s been a practicing musician most of his life but also takes pride in his life as a folklorist, radio producer and scholar of cowboy lore.

Greg Istock plays acoustic bass and foot percussion. He has a Caribbean music background and is an active visual artist.

Eli Wrankle is a classically trained violinist and a student at Southern Utah University. He comes from a family of artists and joined the group when he was fifteen. Now twenty, he is the old soul of the group.

3hattrio made their European debut at Celtic Connections in 2017 to outstanding reviews. This Glasgow Scotland festival is the largest winter music festival in the world. They have been featured at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Moab Folk Festival and with original music and dance for Repertory Dance Theater. Mostly they play at home for their dogs and the occasional lizard, spider or Red Tailed Hawk.

This 8 minute documentary tells who the 3hattrio are, what they do and shows them in performance.

 

Ever Evolving Original Americana Roots Rock and Alt County (mostly)
7:00 PM Friday, September 30, 2016

The $15.00 tickets are on sale now at the Martin Hotel, Nature’s Corner, and Global Coffee. You can also buy them online at themartinhotel.com.

An entry from a tattered journal found on the shores of Lake Tahoe…

“According to local lore, tucked deep in the snow blanketed Sierra Nevada mountains, rests a cabin secluded from the masses. After days of searching the shores of Lake Tahoe, I find a path of footsteps in the snow that winds through the moss laden trees of the forest. After hours trudging through knee-deep snow, I find myself gazing up a cabin where smoke is billowing from the chimney. To learn of what is inside, I crawl up to the window. As I wipe away the snow for a closer look, I find the crew consumed by their cause of crafting melodies and songs that warms the entire cabin. Here lies the heart and soul of Dead Winter Carpenters…”

 

In a time when music has been transformed and genre lines are left behind like the seasons, Dead Winter Carpenters are producing an ever-evolving style of music. The time spent, both in the studio in the woods and criss-crossing the American countryside, has provided Dead Winter Carpenters with a sound that blends Americana roots-rock with a tinge of straightforward ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ Alt. Country that is as hard-hitting as it is whimsical. While the roadsigns and towns pass by the windows on down the highway of tour, DWC are writing original material based on their life experiences.

Hailing from North Lake Tahoe, CA, Dead Winter Carpenters blends Americana roots-rock with a tinge of straightforward ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ Alt. Country to bring hard-hitting performances that are as edgy as they are whimsical. The band pushes and pulls at musical boundaries with top-notch, live performances while walking the line with unexpected musical flair. With an unbridled spirit, and an authentic approach to the art of songwriting, the experience of an evening with Dead Winter Carpenters epitomizes what live music is all about.

“For a band that cites the Fibonacci Sequence as an inspiration for its moniker, the devastatingly original sounds of North Lake Tahoe’s The Dead Winter Carpenters are completely accessible.” -Good Times Weekly: Santa Cruz, CA

Highlighted by vocal melodies and five part harmonies, the ferocious fluidity of the fiddle, deep pounding thump and thud of the upright bass, country ramblings of the telecaster and acoustic guitars, and the driving drums all meld together to create an experience that is sure leave you grinning from ear to ear.

“The quintet blends classic elements of roots and country music with choice influences from throughout rock history, including the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Townes Van Zant, that elevate them above your average new grass hybrid.” -Seven Days: Burlington, VT

The five-piece outfit is:

-fiddler/vocalist – Jenni Charles
-upright bassist/vocalist – Dave Lockhart
-guitarist/vocalist – Jesse Dunn
-guitarist/vocalist – Bryan Daines
-drummer/vocalist – Brian Huston