An afternoon under the spell of a world-traveled voice, with a collection of songs newly gathered and refined during a breathtaking personal odyssey. All this and more is on the menu when Kay Martin presents her music at Severino’s, Sunday, Oct. 11 at 3pm.
Always sultry, Martin’s effortless vocals whisper of moonlight and dreamy afternoons on the beach. The word “beautiful” comes to mind.
Martin admits her repertoire is eclectic and wide-ranging—Brazilian, jazz, soul, indie, folk rock. Under COVID lockdown, she began recording a series of songs at home, collaborating with Fefe Lee of Los Pinguos and drummer/engineer Paul Tavanner. That core repertoire morphed into the foundation for live concerts Martin gave during her life-changing European tour three years ago, living and performing in nine European countries during a year of solo travel.
“I was crazed about the impossibility of making music during COVID, so with the world dying all around us, I picked seven songs I most wanted to work on, and my wonderful accompanist Fefe Lee worked on them in his garage studio. When I got his tracks, I realized that I could sing to them with minimal equipment. And I decided to put my dream of living in Europe into action, to just do it, and to perform wherever I found myself abroad. I lived at least a month almost everywhere,” she says.
Her travels included three months near Swansea and three on the Moroccan coast, plus stays in Sicily, Aveiro, Córdoba, Dijon, Bari and Leros. And more.
Martin performed that core suite, along with others from her two previous albums, in pop-up concerts. To be clear, Martin wasn’t technically busking, i.e., playing for monetary contributions.
“I just had to put out receptacles because people insisted and would get upset if they couldn’t give me a little something,” she explains. “I’ve always conceived of my singing as a concert, meticulously planned. Not the free form of busking, at least as I imagine it.”
And she kept finessing her material. “I also recorded them on the fly—again, with minimal but good gear—around the trip’s edges, in guest cottages and garages. At the time, I thought of the songs as both expressing and relieving Covid. As you can imagine, it was the journey of a lifetime.” And perfect for the times we live in right now.
Some of the songs Martin will perform were created in sessions blending jazz and reggae. “I was interested in how these rhythms can blend, how they can fit each other, where they intersect. To me these blends are playful, exhilarating, celebratory. They are intended to reveal and to celebrate oneness.” The other big theme threading through Martin’s musical choices is love.
“Some stories are universal, our trials and triumphs, our dance of survival and of fulfilling life’s promises. And for all these stories the common thread is love, in all its different forms—passionate, intense, tender, compassionate. What better vehicle for love than music,” she contends. “Music shifts us out of whatever rut we’re in and we’re moved, even unsettled, through its emotional and visceral pull. I like to think of singing as a force of nature. Story, melody, and the uniqueness of each song merge into life experience through the vocal instrument.”
This Sunday we will see and hear her in her Prodigal Tomboy element, surrounded by fans and friends. Martin admits it’s tough for independent artists to have their voices heard. So much has consolidated into giant distribution platforms, YouTube and Spotify offering recycled downloadables. “Of course the giant streamers have ruined everything for musicians and their recordings,” she contends. “But people do still need and love music, however they find it.”
This Sunday the patio of Severino’s will stand in for the sidewalks of Dijon. And for the afternoon Martin will be accompanied by her travel collaborator—prerecorded music—which makes this live event an authentic recreation of her year touring and performing. Traveling on the cheap, connecting with everyday folks across boundaries of language, culture, and economic class, Kay Martin has collected a few juicy stories to tell. And the sensuous, radiant voice to go with them. See you there!
Kay Martin, a launch for Prodigal Tomboy at Severino’s, Sunday Oct. 11, 3pm.
