BOB MARTIN: Press

Rediscovering Bob Martin, for the first time

A highly talented singer-songwriter from Lowell, Massachusetts, Bob Martin released Midwest Farm Disaster in 1972 — a record that is generally acknowledged as his masterpiece and a genre benchmark.

Martin’s voice is gravelly, weathered, soulful and honest. Think of a strange Kevin Coyne, Van Morrison, or Bob Lind blend and you’re right on target. The lyrics are top shelf too, the equal or better of most of his critically acclaimed contemporaries. The sound of the LP is very close to Gene Clark’s White Light or Bob Lind’s Since There Were Circles, a stark, beautiful blend of folk and country that truly reveals its depth with repeated listens. With every song, Bob candidly brings the listener into his working class world spinning great American tales of local drunks, small town farm life, prison convicts, and hard times working on the mill.

Midwest Farm Disaster is laced with would-be classics, including“Blind Marie”, a moving track that happens to be the album’s most accessible song; a song that should have gained Martin commercial notoriety. Tracks like the Woody Guthrie influenced “Third War Rag” and “Frog Dick, South Dakota” are colored by Martin’s distinct sense of humor but also packed with good, catchy melodies and wonderfully sarcastic lyrics. Other songs like the intense “Mill Town”, and title track, are dark tales that relate to Bob’s earlier life on the farm and are superb examples of real Americana. The album ends with “Deer Island Prison,” which might be thought of as the album’s cornerstone. Martin turns in a stunning vocal and lyrical performance that must surely rank as one of the great, unsung confessionals.

An excellent and unforgettable LP, Midwest Farm Disaster is full of rich drifter music and should be mandatory listening for those who are into deep, rustic Americana. In 2007, Midwest Farm Disaster was reissued by Bob’s own Riversong Records and can be purchased on the CD Baby website. words/ j nardelli

Every now and then I come across a masterpiece album that somehow flew underneath my musical radar or because of my age and the tender innocence of my ear, I just hadn’t arrived at the place in time to fully understand or appreciate its magic. Once found though, these albums more often than not become a touchstone, a fork in the journey where the well-worn road is left behind in favor of the rarely trodden path. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL FEATURE :

“I was first struck by the power of Bob Martin’s songwriting on Midwest Farm Disaster in the 1970s. His lyrics are powerful, direct and moving. This is a writer that has style, economy of lyric and the ability to tell a good story. Si Kahn singled him out as one of the best songwriters in the country.”

"His ability to paint an emotionally charged picture with a small detail or an artful turn of a phrase is what separates Martin from the average songwriter."

"Martin's voice at times echoes John Prine and Bob Dylan. It is Martin's rich appreciation of tradition though that makes River Turns The Wheel come alive with a lyrical landscape of stories..." "For clearly a rare performance at the Paradise's upstairs speakeasy, the legendary folk icon stopped at the club...the legions of folk music fans that packed the tiny room were privy to one of the finest practitioners in the fine art of traditional folk music."

"He is really one of the genius songwriters of the Northeast."

"If he had been given the right opportunities, and received the right breaks, he could have been bigger than Dylan".

"Where did this guy come from?
Martin has turned in one of the strongest sets I've heard in a long time. There is nothing derivative about Martin's music. The people and places in these songs ring true and strike at the gut. There is no dead wood, either every song demands to be heard." -

"Bob Martin is rock's answer to Emily Dickenson. This album (River Turns The Wheel) mixes the authenticity off Woody Guthrie with the intensity of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes."

"Possessed of a slightly raspy delivery, Martin's solidly structured words create images of late night subway trains and post midnight mean streets, hobos jumpin trains, fishin' from an abandoned train trestle, long abandoned textile mills and so much more.
One of the most honest and truthful records it has been my pleasure to listen to. Forget the imitators this guy is undoutedly The Bob."

"With Martin's music it is the sheer excellence of the songs themselves and of the lyrics within...One of the best narrative songwriters in America."

"Martin's songwriting is of such intense lyrical depth, that I found myself drawn into this disc like water swirling into a whirlpool. Storytelling is surely Martin's strong point and his New England vocal twist and unobtrusive musical accompaniment flesh out these songs to fine results."