Very Janet Martin

Richmond’s Janet Martin is out with a new CD and hotter than ever … especially in France

By Bill Bevins

Talented Richmond guitarist and singer/songwriter Janet Martin has just released her sixth CD, “Step Inside the Dream,” with songs co-written by her and her musician husband, Michael Muller. Not surprisingly, Janet has a strong local following. But she has even a stronger European following.

We talked in the Lite 98 studio.

Q: I WANT TO START WITH YOUR FIRST GUITAR THAT YOU EVER HAD. TELL ME WHAT IT WAS.

A: “Well, the very first was a Sears special. It was called a ‘Stella’. They might even still make ‘em. And I was about eight when I got it. I had started piano first but I asked for a guitar. So my parents gave me a Stella guitar from Sears and I was really upset because I was, like, ‘This isn’t a real guitar’. (Laughs) So the next year, I got a Gibson for Christmas.”

Q: THE WORST GIG YOU EVER PLAYED?

A: “Oh, geez. Well, back when Betsy Q. and I were playing, we had an opportunity to open for Survivor. We were playing at the University of North Florida, I think, and we were so excited. And we got on stage and there were probably two or three thousand people out there. We had drum machines and she was on bass and keyboards and I had my guitars – and we didn’t have any sound! When we were singing, there was no sound. I mean, there was nothing. And you know, it’s an audience that big staring at you. So there was no sound for – I don’t know – over five minutes and it was just terrifying.”

Q: BIGGEST CROWD YOU EVER PLAYED FOR?

A: “Well, that’s a good question. I haven’t been asked that one. Several thousand. I’m trying to think. There’s been some highpressure gigs like opening for Jerry Lee Lewis but that was at the 9:30 Club in D.C. and that room only holds – I don’t know – maybe between 600 and 800.”

Q: I’VE HEARD THESE STORIES ABOUT YOU PLAYING OVER IN FRANCE AND OF YOU BEING THE MUSICAL EQUIVALENT OF COMEDIAN JERRY LEWIS. HE’S HUGE IN FRANCE AND NOT SO HUGE HERE. AND SOMEBODY WAS TELLING ME THAT “JANET MARTIN’S HUGE IN FRANCE.”

A: “Well, I think they just really love American music over there. They just have a real fascination for it. Not just France, but Belgium – you know we played in Belgium, too. They just love American music. I guess the best comparison is: I love a lot of British bands – you know, bands from the British Invasion era.”

Q: BUT ANY AMERICAN BAND COULD GO OVER THERE AND THAT WOULD BE AMERICAN MUSIC. BUT YOU’RE DOING VERY WELL OVER THERE.

A: “They’ve just taken to me. They love the slide [guitar] playing. We had a DJ, a guy over there, play a song called ‘Travel On’. He started playing it and people were responding well to it and he sent it to some of the other guys at other stations and they started playing it and it just started the domino effect.”

Q: ONE OF THE THINGS WHEN I SAW YOU THE FIRST TIME YEARS AGO THAT STRUCK ME ABOUT YOU AND YOUR STYLE IS – IT’S THE SAME THING WHEN I FIRST SAW BONNIE RAITT – YOU PLAY THE GUITAR LIKE A GUY. (LAUGHS) IF THAT’S POLITICALLY INCORRECT OR SEXIST, I’M SORRY.

A: “No, I hear it all the time.”

Q: AND YOUR STAGE PRESENCE IS, NOT INYOUR- FACE BUT A LITTLE EDGY. I WONDER IF THAT IS JUST NATURAL OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU’VE TRIED TO PERFECT?

A: “That’s just me. I’m not trying to act or be like anyone else. I mean, I love seeing a girl that can play guitar.”

Q: WHO WAS YOUR FIRST MAJOR INFLUENCE?

A: “Well, the Beatles. I know that you get sick of hearing people say that, but my parents were music lovers and my mother used to listen to the Beatles a lot and so I heard a lot of that, like The Kingston Trio and things like that, too. So the Beatles, if I have to say the first. And I was exposed to a lot of bluegrass music for a few years and that’s when I learned to play guitar. You never really saw any women playing back then so. When I heard Bonnie Raitt, [I said,] ‘That’s it – I’m gonna’ do that.’”

Q: WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF HEADED FIVE, 10, 15 YEARS FROM NOW?

A: “I really have no intentions of stopping because, you know, I just enjoy doing it so much. As long as God’s willing.”

Q: I WANT TO TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW CD. IT’S VERY GOOD. IT’S CALLED ‘STEP INSIDE THE DREAM.’ AND DO YOU WRITE ALL OF YOUR MUSIC WITH YOUR HUSBAND? IS THAT THE DEAL NOW – IS THAT A LENNON/MCCARTNEY KIND OF THING?

A: “Several years ago, when we were first writing together, working together, we did the copyright thing separate … [or] we were trying to change or apply the credit accordingly – who put the most in the song. After a few years we were like, ‘Let’s just say we co-wrote.’ So, yeah, it’s kind of a good analogy, the Lennon/McCartney thing.”

Q: WELL, IT’S VERY GOOD. IT’S VERY JANET MARTIN. I LISTENED TO IT AND I ENJOYED IT A LOT.

A: “Thank you.”

Click Here to Hear the Complete Interview

Bill Bevins is host of the top-rated “Wake Up Show,” with Shelly Perkins, on WTVR 98.1-FM radio, “Lite-98.” Contact him at Bill- Bevins@Lite98.com.