Kyle Martin
Kyle Martin, born and raised in Santa Rosa, California by musicians Nancy Pettitt-Martin and Craig Martin, has been musically trained by a handful of teachers including his parents, vocal instruction and piano from Melissa Phillipe, Linda Webb Kakabba and Dan Earl. Kyle took guitar lessons from the age of 10 to 16 from Hoytus Rolen.
Kyle's father Craig was a founding member of the comedy/ top 50's rock and roll group in San Francisco called “Butch Whacks and the Glass Packs” which formed in 1970. Craig died in the spring of 2007, but the band continued to play. In June 2014 Kyle had the privilege of performing "It's Only Make Believe" by Conway Twitty, at their "45th Annual Farewell Performance at Bimbos 365 club", a tune in which his father used to bring down the house at every show.
Kyle’s mother Nancy has performed in various country and blues bands as a drummer in Mendocino and Sonoma counties. One notable blues band, “2120”, was constantly practicing in the garage and influenced Kyle as a teen to make noise of his own with his friends. Kyle formed “Lost Leader” in 2000, a punk band in which he composed, arranged, sang and played guitar. They produced an album inspired by the 9/11 truth movement.
THE BOOGIE ROOM
The Boogie Room and Gardens was an event space rented by Kyle and a couple of friends in unincorporated south Santa Rosa on an old property formerly inhabited by local blues musician Muddy Rivers. Between 2007 and 2010 they facilitated the Boogie Room as a sacred non-profit organization striving to connect community with music and agriculture.
"In the heyday of the never-forgotten Boogie Room, a house-garden-commune-barn-venue in Southwest Santa Rosa, it wasn’t uncommon to find a hardcore band like M.D.C. playing inside the barn, while outside, around the fire pit—always—a group of people jamming together on acoustic instruments. One resident campfire standby at the Boogie Room, named Kyle Martin, has just released a solo album that encapsulates a special, rural brand of idealism. See the upbeat song “Romance”, which contrasts the insidious nature of advertising (“TV tries to sell you that you are ugly, you smell bad, you’re hairy, hey, people think you’re scary”) with the natural onset of love, which “doesn’t cost a thing.” Martin has an adventurous band and a pure heart" --Gabe Meline
FIRST ALBUM
In 2010 Kyle met his best friend and multi instrumentalist Kevin Cole, who has played both drums and bass in Kyle’s band. Together, they established a sound which led to the release of Kyle’s first self-titled album in 2012, with the help of engineer Paul Lamb, who also performed bass and synthesizer on the album. They are about to release their next album in the spring of 2015 through Jackalope records, produced with Doug Jayne and Paul Lamb. Kyle currently performs bass, guitar, sings, as well as arranges music with Jen Tucker, Sally Haggard, Kristen Pearce, and The Crux Tent Revival.
Kyle Martin Band is an evolution of Kyle's self-expression through music. Currently the band also includes Kevin Cole on Bass, Nate Dittle on Keys and Accordian and Taylor Cuffie on Drums. The Kyle Martin Band plays shows throughout the Bay Area.
