Here's a copy of the original interview with Mick Martin from the now unavailable "Blues Notes" link in which I get a nice mention....!

Sacramento blues men Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers release "Blues All Night", their new CD on Blues Rock Records.
Mick Martin and Tim Barnes are the song writing team who wrote the timeless songs you will find on Blues All Night.
Commentary on the tunes are by Mick Martin and Leslie Ann Knight of KKUP FM, Cupertino, California. (8/96?)


1. Hold On Baby

Mick: This tune is a light-hearted take on how people don't think about what they're doing. It's about those who are inconsiderate of others and behave as though the world revolves around them.

Leslie: High-spirited Mick Martin leads the band through a terrific opener, setting the break-neck pace for this recording session.

2. Brand New Woman

Mick: This one's about the feeling of elation one gets by falling in love. There's nothing more energizing than a new relationship, when the other person doesn't know all of your flaws and thinks you're special. Being in a state of bliss is where the lyric comes from. There's a tongue-in-cheekness here. It's meant to make you smile.

Leslie: Mick delivers these lyrics with convincing aplomb. The Blues Rockers dig in with stimulating support and interesting interplay on the solos. Mick's driving vocals work well with greasy (but not too greasy) tenor sax man Rick Metz and Hammond B-3 organist Daron Novotny.

3. Louise

Mick: Louise was the receptionist at the now defunct Sacramento Union Newspaper. I worked there as the Arts Critic and played blues gigs at night. Louise attended all of our shows. This song is our way of saying thank you.

Leslie: You may find yourself singing along on this infectious tune. Notice Tim's retro hollow-body guitar sound and Mick's inspiring energy and commentary from the background during Tim's solo.

4. Can't Get Enough

Mick: (Mick laughs out loud). Can't Get Enough needs no explanation, (Mick can hardly stop laughing) however I came up with this lyric as I was walking on the beach. I just started singing. This song fits Tim's singing style well.

Leslie:Tim sings this one with great abandon and believability since he's a wild man with a heart.

5. Your Lies

Mick: I wanted a brooding song on this session, something that carries some emotional weight. We improvised this during the recording. Lying is much more problematic than telling the truth and that's what this song is all about. Being able to play a Lee Oskar Natural Minor harmonica on this song really gave new emotional range to my playing. I play in an A minor harmonica in the key of A minor. I'm really grateful to Lee Oskar (Lee Oskar Harmonicas) for explaining this concept to me, because I never would have figured it out on my own.

Leslie: The smart use of both Steve Gundhi's alto sax and Mick Martin's harmonica gives this tune a much fuller framework with which to create this deeply affecting blues ballad sure to command your heart's attention.

6. Blues All Night

Mick: Tim walked in and started playing this riff. The melody just hit me spontaneously. (Mick sings) 'Hey Now Baby, what's the matter with you, you don't do the things you used to do.' There's a sort of wistful sadness in the music. Tim came up with the line, Blues All Night. Tim has always wanted to work with Lena Mosley who is up front with me on the vocals. Hell with the formula and the rules of writing a blues song. The melody is the blues here, not the chord changes. There's no reason why a blues song can't be memorable based on a melody.

Leslie: An engaging tune rooted in Gospel and rhythm and blues on this feast for the ears.

7. Takin' My Time

Mick: That's a song that I wrote for a European release and it's about a man who is taking his time to please his woman. Hammond B3 organist Daron Novotny brings a rich texture to this tune while Johnny Heartsman plays flute here. Can't play the flute in the blues? Wanna bet?

Leslie: You may decide to hit the replay button right here. Memories of Herbie Mann's Coming Home recorded live At The Village Gate come to mind. Today and a hundred years from now I expect Takin' My Time to make a similar impact on the blues world.

8. Clean and Mean

Mick:This one puts out a "we're gonna stand up and do what we want whether anyone likes it or not" message. It's a rockabilly tune for Tim to have fun with and it's a tribute to Luther Tucker from whom Tim learned a lot. Luther Tucker taught Tim the famous Robert Jr. Lockwood picking style. Regarding rockabilly and early blues, well there's really no difference. Junior Parker and Howlin' Wolf, the Sun (Records) connection and Jerry Lee Lewis, what's the difference? Is it rockabilly or blues? It's both.

Leslie: Particularly impressive is Tim's loose, unpolished and perfectly natural vocal delivery and his rockin' guitar solo. I love Tim's
in-your-face and out-of-control sense of presence.

9. Heartbreaker

Mick:This tune is for hopeless romantics. Tim wrote the music and I wrote the lyrics. I love this song because it's about having faith in other people. It's about caring enough about someone enough to stick with them no matter what. It has a Ray Charles sort of feeling. Steve Gundhi delivered his solo in the Hank Crawford style. Steve has great respect for the melody and it comes through on this recording. He nailed it.

Leslie: Mick's conviction and love for this lyric really comes through. His lyrical intensity and honesty on Heartbreaker is probably the one characteristic of this CD that stays with me long after the laser has stopped beaming on the CD. Jerry Banks' sense of adventure comes through as he adds some lyrical percussive effects.

10. Sugar Man

Mick: When were on the road in a town for a week or so and living in a condo, our drummer Jerry Banks rises early to bake some delicious chocolate cakes. I was inspired by Jerry's talent for baking. He was earning the nickname Sugar Man, so I wrote lyrics for Sugar Man. I wrote these lyrics in about twenty minutes, knocked on Jerry's door and asked him to give the lyrics a try. Jerry cut this vocal in one take.

Leslie: Jerry Banks makes a soulful debut on this exuberant funk-driven blues groove. The line 'Don't give me no artificial sugar, just whisper sweet and low' is just one example of Mick's gift for creating the perfect phrase. The addition of congas and Glenn Lane's Hammond B3 give this song a carefree throw-back to the seventies sort of feeling.

11. I Know

Mick:We had been playing tunes from our Got To Play The Blues CD six nights a week with some of the tunes from the Blues Plate Special CD. I was sick of doing the tunes night after night. In the midst of performing, I wrote I Know while we were on-stage. I turned to Steve and asked him to play the bass line I had in my head. I just had to do some fresh material now - and I mean right now. As I developed the groove and the lyric on the spot, the audience sang along. I brought this tune out again for the session because of the immediate positive feedback we received from the live audience.

Leslie: Mick inspires the band with an absorbing harmonica solo plus there's some down and dirty tenor sax from Rick Metz and a stunning trumpet solo from Dave Johnson.

12. Back-Talkin' Baby

Mick:This was a track that was supposed to land on our Blues Plate Special CD, but I couldn't get the vocal down the way I wanted it to sound. I brought it out again, but this time Tim sang it.

Leslie: Back-Talkin' Baby is recorded with great spirit and vitality in house-rent party style.

13. Losing You

Mick: This is an attempt to record the ultimate slow blues and I wanted Tim to have a showcase for his bluesiest guitar playing. As a listener this one is my favorite. It's everything I wanted it to be. Slow blues should be bittersweet and sad. This is a real blues song the way most people think of blues and of course it's about pain in a relationship. I arranged this and directed the band during the recording. This could have been bombastic and over done, but I don't think it is. There are movements in this song. The guitar solo is orchestrated although there's no written music. It wasn't easy to play, but we nailed it on the third take. From the stand point of emotion and music, it works. I wanted to record a slow blues song that's not a filler, but very substantial. What moves you, what moves me, it's all an essential part of our lives. Being able to touch people with music and lyrics can directly influence how someone may conduct their life. I want to touch people where they live.

Leslie: You’ve accomplished what you set out to do on this entire project, Mick. You've touched us where we live. Jerry's and Steve's tasteful support is noticeably exceptional here. Losing You brings the anguish of lost love to the forefront. Mick's heartfelt vocal treatment and Tim's sensitively played guitar solo makes Losing You stand out as one of the most slinky-low-down-compelling slow blues recorded.

Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers are:
Mick Martin, harmonica, lead vocals and percussion
Jerry Banks, drums, percussion and vocals
Tim Barnes, guitar and vocals
Steve Schofer, bass, piano and backing vocals

On July 30th, 1996 Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers left the United States for a tour of the United Kingdom. While on tour they will record a CD in Belguim for Parsifal Records.
Also available on Blues Rock Records:
Got To Play The Blues CD
Blues Plate Special CD
Doin' The Backseat Boogie CD
Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers booking information:
George Gosling Productions 916 424-5371

Publicist: Leslie Ann Knight
Knight & Day Media Control