In Europe for a brief tour and promoting his critically acclaimed release from last year THANK GOD WE LEFT THE GARDEN Jeffrey Martin returns to Dublin to great acclaim. He last played here in early 2023 with his partner in life and in music Anna Tivel as part of a co-headline tour but tonight Jeffrey takes centre stage with his acoustic guitar and a suitcase full of superbly crafted songs.
He resembles something like a woodsman in his appearance with a formidable build and a generous beard impressing those who are present on word of mouth recommendations. Of course, in reality we are in the company of a gentle, sensitive soul that stands before a packed room and talks from the heart about his “‘sad ass songs” and his views on the state of the planet as we continue as a species to confuse and dumbfound in our actions and daily agitations.
Jeffrey Martin gave up a career in teaching in order to follow his dream of being a musician and it is clear from his tales of the road and beyond that money could never have been a motivating factor at any point along his journey. He tells of phone conversations with his Dad who enquires after the number of people that are turning up for the shows and whether he is making “enough money” to make it work. One hilarious story as a lead in to Paper Crown recounts Jeffrey’s encounter with some mind altering mushrooms and a muddy patch in his local park that ended in him returning home to sell his newly purchased portfolio of shares which had amounted to the princely sum of $90. He is a natural storyteller and this of course endears him all the more to an Irish audience.
Focusing mainly on the new album, Jeffrey plays beautifully restrained fingerstyle guitar and wraps his superbly nuanced vocals around the words that reach out to everyman in their questions of the big issues. Over a set of thirteen songs he features Garden, Lost Dog, Red Station Wagon, Paper Crown, Quiet Man, There Is A Treasure, Sculptor and Walking from Thank God We Left the Garden and the immediacy and the intimacy of the performance has everyone in deep reverence with every part of the music. There is a hypnotic quality to the synergy of guitar and voice that both soothes and silently seeks to consider our place in the world in which we take our daily roles.
Early songs from his debut BUILD A HOME EP, THIEF AND A LIAR (2012) and GROWER OF TREES (2014), DOGS IN THE DAYLIGHT kick off the show with a reminder that the pearls of wisdom that drop from the mind and the pen of Jeffrey Martin are in no way a current discovery. He also features some songs that remain unrecorded (yet), and a new one, which he says is “For America” in his introduction. It is an indictment of the abuse of power and privilege in high places. The abiding message in the politically themed song is that of enduring community with the refrain “I love you my brother” and I was also interested in the line “The devil was made so we wouldn’t blame God.”
Jeffrey Martin doesn’t profess himself to be a religious man and yet there is a strong morality running through his songs that calls us to witness the basic message of all religions, in that we should love each other and care for the weak among us. So many of his songs feature those on the margins of society and those with no voice or control over the shape of their lives. He also speaks of how we are really all the same with hidden layers within each of us. His song Just Like You, Just Like Me contains the words “Shiny on the outside but broken on the inside” when it comes to the games that people like to play in order to make themselves feel self-important.
The song Checkers is one that Jeffrey has only played live and he speaks of his friendship with Mick Flannery and their cross-fertilisation of song ideas. The story relates to Mick writing a song that referenced great chess matches and masters while the response from Jeffrey was one of a song that cleverly pokes fun at the checker playing mentality of certain sections of our shared communities.
As a champion of the unheard voices in society, Jeffrey Martin stands tall and his talent stretches far beyond the venues in which he spins his tales of mindfulness and self-awareness. The final song Walking sums it all up in the lines “ We’ll be gone with nothing, The same way that we came, So I go out walking.” The perfect antidote? I would never bet against the insight of this talented musician who continues to win the hearts of minds of all who hear him perform. A truly great night of music.
Coda: The support act was a local Irish band called Dug. They have only been an ensemble for a matter of months but this 4-piece seem destined for greater things if tonight is anything to go by. Their music is authentic and based in the great roots tradition. Percussion, bass, banjo and resonator guitar combine to create a very enjoyable set of songs in the true spirit of spontaneity. They went down a storm and are definitely an act to watch out for in the months ahead.
Review by Paul McGee