Babs Martin was born in San Diego, CA, raised on Route 66, and currently resides in Oklahoma. She is a lyricist, vocalist, and musician. Babs released her first trial CD “New Castles and Dead Dreams” 2008 as a limited edition. The following year in 2009 she officially released “Awake in Fog” which achieved international recognition. Her latest CD, Psychodelic Circus was released in March 2011.
Babs’ Trip albums and singles have been featured on several radio programs in the US and Canada. She has performed her hard hitting works in several establishments around The Villiage in NYC, the WordRock Festival in Hoboken, NJ, Memphis, TN, Tulsa, and other cities in Oklahoma.
Babs started singing blues, swamp rock, and rockabilly in bars when she was three. She went on to sing contemporary Gospel solos and duets during her teen years. In her twenties she picked up Folk music on an acoustic rhythm guitar, then with the influence of J. A. Martin she gravitated into Old Time Mountain music. On vocals and rhythm guitar, she backed up J.A. Martin's clawhammer banjo and the two played various jam scenes across Oklahoma. In 2008 Babs learned to play the keyboard to accompany her solo pieces on her Awake in Fog album and tour. On the Psychodelic Circus album and tour she sings, plays keyboard, frame drum, and other percussion instruments.
J.A Martin was born in San Diego, traveled all around the US, and currently resides in Oklahoma. His music lessons began on the piano at the age of seven and he received guitar lessons at the age of 11. At the age of 15, he taught himself to play bluegrass banjo. The following year at the age of 16 he began lessons to learn more bluegrass rolls then discovered the drop thumbing, pull-offs and double hammer-ons sounds of clawhammer banjo and was hooked. During this same year, John began building banjos and worked in a music store. By the age of 17 he was competing in banjo fiddle contests on the west coast and winning categories in traditional banjo. J.A also taught banjo lessons out of various music stores during these years. At the age of 19, J.A. recorded on a PBS documentary about the California Gold Rush. From there he began college as music major. J.A. couldn't major in banjo, so he went his own direction playing for himself and appreciative audiences on street corners and municipal parks – judging his fame by the amount of quarters in his case.
J.A. played clawhammer banjo on several tracks on Babs’ early albums. On their latest album, Psychodelic Circus, he applies the clawhammer techniques and traditional mountain tunings on modified electric guitars to achieve an outlaw of complex sounds. J.A. incorporates off beats and double time rhythms in the melody line to drive his music constantly forward. When asked if he reads music J.A. replies, "Not enough to hurt my playing."
Babs and J.A. Martin record their work in a raw, veracious, old-fashioned style by stepping up to the can and playing the songs from beginning to end. The result sounds like a live performance, a private concert in your own living room, a vintage arcade with toe-tapping in the moment passion bouncing off lively pop-bumpers. You won’t want to miss their fuel for the soul, so jump on board Babs Martin and The Trip.
