Barrett Martin

Infobox Musical artist


Name = Barrett Martin
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
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Birth_name = Barrett Martin
Born = April 14, 1967
Origin = Olympia, Washington
Death =
Genre = Grunge
Alternative rock
Occupation = Musician
Years_active =
Instrument = drums
First_album =
Latest_album =
Notable_albums =
Notable songs =
Label = Epic Records
Associated_acts = Screaming Trees
Skin Yard
Mad Season
Tuatara
Various other
URL =

Barrett Martin (born April 14, 1967 in Olympia, Washington) was the drummer for the Seattle, Washington group the Screaming Trees as well as the supergroup Mad Season. A multi-instrumentalist and producer, he was also a session musician in Los Angeles for several years in the 1990s and has played on or produced over 50 albums to date.

History

Martin studied jazz and classical music theory at Western Washington University in the mid-1980s before finishing his Bachelors and Masters degrees in anthropology and ethnomusicology at the University of New Mexico, graduating summa cum laude (highest honors). Moving to Seattle in the mid 1980s, Martin was witness to the birth of the Seattle music scene, joining grunge pioneers Skin Yard in 1990, and going on to make two albums with the band, 1000 Smiling Knuckles (1991) and Inside The Eye (posthumously 1993). When Skin Yard broke up in 1991, Martin was immediately asked to fill the recently vacated drum seat in the Screaming Trees. The Trees went on to make two more studio albums with Martin, Sweet Oblivion (1992) and Dust (1995), before calling it quits in 2000. In 1994, Martin formed the supergroup Mad Season with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Layne Staley of Alice In Chains, and Chicago blues bassist Baker Saunders. The band released its debut album Above in 1995, playing only a handful of local shows before disbanding. Martin went on to become a top session musician in Los Angeles, playing drums and percussion on records by REM, Luna, Stone Temple Pilots, Queens Of The Stone Age, Air, and singer-songwriters Victoria Williams and Mark Olson.

Aside from his collaborations in various projects as a professional percussionist during and after the dissolution of the Screaming Trees, he has focused his musical endeavors on the study of percussion styles from various cultures around the world, primarily African tribal rhythms and the music of Latin America. The most early and apparent influence of tribal techniques on his style can be heard in the opening drum riff of the Screaming Trees' song, Nearly Lost You (as a side note, this riff was performed during Bill Clinton's 1992 inauguration ceremony) and "X-ray Mind" during a stint in Mad Season.

His field work in ethnomusicology has included work with Garifuna drummers in Belize, Wolof Griots in Senegal, Ewe drummers in Ghana, Santeria drummers in Cuba, Candomble drummers in Brazil, and the singing Shipibo shamans of the Peruvian Amazon. Between 2000 and 2003, he also worked with Brazilian singer Nando Reis, playing on three of Nando's studio albums, and touring much of Brazil in the process.

In 2000, Martin was ordained as a Zen priest in the Soto traditionfact|date=July 2008, through the Detroit Street Zen Center in Los Angeles. He is also a founding member, along with Peter Buck of R.E.M., of the revolving-door music project Tuatara, which has released seven albums to date. He also founded his own record label, Fast Horse Recordings, which releases traditional and contemporary world music. In 2002 he released his first solo album with his band The Wayward Shamans, titled Alchemy. In 2004 he released a second solo album titled The Painted Desert, and in 2006 he followed up with a third solo album titled Earthspeaker. His fourth solo album, a double album titled Zenga, will be released in February of 2009.

Discography

The Minus 5

*Let the War Against Music Begin - 2001
*In Rock - 2000
*The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy - 1997

creaming Trees

*Sweet Oblivion - 1992
*Dust - 1996

olo albums

*Zenga - 2009
*Earthspeaker - 2006
*The Painted Desert - 2004
*Alchemy - 2002

Tuatara

*West of the Moon - 2007
*East of the Sun - 2007
*The Loading Program - 2003
*Cinemathique - 2002
*Trading with the Enemy - 1998
*Breaking the Ethers - 1997

Various

*Rahim Alhaj - Friendship - 2006
*Bola Abimbola - Ara Kenge - 2006
*Jack Endino - Permanent Fatal Error - 2005
*Roger Greenway - Wayt - 2004
*Ramiro Musotto - Sudaka - 2003
*Mylene Pires - Mylene - 2003
*Nando Reis - A Letra A - 2003
*Nero - Confession #1 - 2003
*CeDell Davis - When Lightning Struck the Pine - 2002
*Wayward Shamans - Alchemy - 2002
*Nando Reis – Infernal - 2001
*Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R - 2001
*Therapy? - Shameless - 2001
*Nado Reis - Para Quando o Arco - 2000
*Victoria Williams - Water to Drink - 2000
*Mark Olson - My Own Jo Ellen - 2000
*The Twilight Singers - Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers - 2000
*Mark Lanegan - I'll Take Care of You - 1999
*Stone Temple Pilots - No. 4 - 1999
*Various artists - More Oar - 1999
*R.E.M. - Up - 1998
*Luna - Pup Tent - 1997
*Mark Eitzel - West - 1997
*Protein - Ever Since I was a Kid - 1997
*Various artists - Flying Traps - 1997
*Mike Johnson - Year of Mondays - 1996
*Seaweed - Spanaway - 1995
*Mad Season - Above - 1994
*Mike Johnson - Where Am I - 1994
*Skin Yard - Inside the Eye - 1993
*Skin Yard - 1000 Smiling Knuckles - 1991
*Thin Men - A Round Hear - 1989

Film compositions

*Woven Songs of the Amazon - 2006 (soundtrack with Shipibo Shamans)
*Ausangate - 2006
*The Fog Ravens - 2003
*The Serial Killer - 2001
*Lush - 2000
*The Best Men - 1999
*Deceiver - 1998

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/barrettmartin MySpace page]
* [http://www.tuatara.com/ Tuatara homepage]