Asa Martin
Asa Martin ( born June 28, 1900 in Winchester, Kentucky; † August 15, 1979 in Kentucky) was an American Old-time musicians. Martin was 1927-1934 guitarist for Fiddlin 'Doc Roberts and entered thereafter mainly on the radio.
- 2.1 Singles
- 2.2 albums
Life
Childhood and youth
Asa Martin was born 1900 in Clark County in a musical family; his mother was a piano teacher and played guitar, his father was a fiddler. Musically, he was also influenced by the traditional music of the vaudeville and minstrel shows. Due to the poor financial situation of Martin decided in 1920 to discontinue his education and instead to become a musician.
Career
Martin joined various vaudeville shows where he learned to play the guitar, has performed with several bands and worked mainly as background music in silent film. With dr invention of sound film Martin saw the returning engagements and was looking for another job as a musician.
At this time he met the fiddler Doc Roberts on a Fiddlers ' Contest in Winchester. Shortly after Martin started performing with Roberts and it was followed in 1928 the first recording session for Gennett Records. In addition to sharing songs with Martin Roberts played again and again also a solo pieces - mostly it were parodies such as The Virginia Bootlegger or There's No Place Like Home (For a Married Man). In these years, Roberts and Martin were two of the most successful Old-time artist for Gennett. With the entry of Roberts' son James in the band as a second vocalist, the repertoire Martins changed towards traditional ballads like Knoxville Girl or Give My Love to Nell. By 1934, Martin played with Doc and James Roberts for Gennett and the American Record Corporation, a further plates.
After the trio broke up in 1934, Martin took over the morning radio show Morning Roundup on WLAP in Lexington, Kentucky. In addition, he could also be heard on other stations in Kentucky and WLW from Cincinnati, Ohio, and played with his own band, the Kentucky Hillbillies and toured the country. He held this activity during his partnership with Roberts never able to fully exercise because Roberts limited its scope to Kentucky. Martin is also regarded as the discoverer of the banjo player David " Stringbean " Akeman; In 1935, he hired the young musicians and gave him the nickname " String Beans " during a concert because he had Akemans real name forgotten.
In 1938 he played again a few songs for Decca Records.
Retreat
With the U.S. entry into the Second World War, Martin retired from the music business and henceforth worked in a munitions factory in Middletown, Ohio. In the 1950s, Martin moved to Irving, Kentucky, where he had bought land away from the city. After his retirement in 1965, he began again, with his new band, the Cumberland Rangers, act and played in 1974 with this group, the album Dr. Ginger Blue one. He was interviewed by music journalist Norm Cohen and Archie Green in 1968 and the two organized a last concert with Martin, Doc Roberts and James Roberts.
Asa Martin died in 1979 at the age of 79 years.
Discography
Singles
Discography is not complete.