John Arthur Martinez   -  Biography

John Arthur Martinez was born in Austin, Texas, and raised in the Texas hill country. His parents divorced when he was 4, but he saw his father often enough to witness how difficult it is to make a living with music. Adam Martinez performed as a drummer for 30 years before giving it up to work for the Lower Colorado River Authority. His stepfather John Gutierrez and mother Hortencia raised John Arthur. Neither one was musical, but an uncle noted the boy's love of poetry writing and gave him money to buy a guitar. It wasn't long before the poems became lyrics.

English was spoken at home and at school, but the youngster also spent a lot of time at his Spanish-speaking grandparents' ranch, so he became bilingual. He demonstrated a deep love of language while still in grade school, and his poetry was published by age 9.

But music was an equally powerful draw. He sneaked into the famed Armadillo World Headquarters nightclub while still underage to see Asleep at the Wheel and Commander Cody. He was smitten by their western-swing sounds and soon developed a liking for Bob Wills and George Strait.

Martinez attended college on a tennis scholarship. By the time he graduated with an English and journalism degree from Southwest Texas State University, he was performing in area clubs every week. He then moved to Tucson, Ariz., for a master's degree in journalism and performed songs in the coffee shops near the University of Arizona.

In time, he dropped out of grad school, returned to the Austin area and worked at music fulltime, while sleeping on countless couches. In 1987, he made his first pilgrimage to Nashville, while back home, the low-paying club jobs barely kept him fed. He enrolled in an Ohio school to learn recording techniques, booked time in studios and tried to pay off his college loans. To get control of his finances, he taught English and coached tennis at Marble Falls High School in Austin.

The trips to Nashville continued. In 1998, Martinez recorded 10 of his songs on a CD titled Spinning Our Wheels, with guests such as fiddler Gene Elders, Lyle Lovett, Loggins & Messina's veteran percussionist Merel Bregante and ex-Asleep at the Wheel pianist Floyd Domino. In 1999, he married and became the stepfather to four children. His wife encouraged him to teach part time at a private school, so he could spend more time writing and singing.

Martinez recorded Stand Your Ground as his second CD in 2001. More polished than his earlier effort, it earned him radio airplay in Dallas and Austin. Then he put everything on hold to compete on the first season of the USA network series Nashville Star. He ultimately placed third and signed with Dualtone Records in 2003. His album Lone Starry Night arrived in 2004.