Interview with singer-songwriter Martha Reich

              To know that what we do matters, that is both the challenge and the challenge's calling. With a sound almost woven out of the earth, Martha Reich sings from the brittle openings of the heart. To hear one must listen, beyond receiving; absorbing. Some music is better suited than others to work on such deep fronts, Reich's songs are certainly up to that task. "When I listen and follow my heart," Martha says, "I never go wrong or get lost." To take in the art that comes from such a place opens up our lives in ways that are impossible to measure but so important to hold onto. As Reich says; "Don't give up what's in your heart to do." "Sow more seeds," instead.


AHC: What has this journey in music, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way?

Martha: I started playing the guitar when I was 9 years old, and wrote poetry when I was around 13 years old. I didn't receive very much
encouragement early on, so I focused my creative energies on the visual arts. I attended Parsons School of Design and Philadelphia College of Art, yet never attended music school but for a year of classical lessons. I used to play in the stairwells at College, thinking no one could hear me. At one point when I was in High School, I picked up the guitar after not playing it for about a year. I was so scared I'd forgotten everything I learned, that I vowed to play the guitar everyday from that time forward. Music has been my constant companion, confident and teacher. It never leaves me and we have become best of friends. Music has been my therapy and my savior. It has been my opportunity to express what I truly need to say, providing I have the courage to say it. Music is my voice when I'm too frightened to speak up. Comparison has been my greatest downfall. Fortunately, I'm reminded that everyone has their own gifts to share, and only I can share mine in the way I do. When I listen and follow my heart, I never go wrong or get lost. It may not be obvious in every moment, yet it has been
reflected back to me from people who have experienced my music, that I'm doing what I'm suppose to be doing and in exactly the way I'm
doing it. I've been told that my music has opened their hearts. I'm grateful to have received several awards, including a Silver Medal in the 2016 Global Music Awards, winner in the 2015 Southwest Independent Music Awards for Best Album and Folk Song, and winner for Best Folk song in the 2014 New Mexico Music Awards. "GOD'S EYES" and "I'D RATHER BE SURPRISED" received nominations in the 2016 Hollywood Music in Media Awards. I may not sell a million albums, yet this is only one definition of success. I've wanted to quit playing music publicly on a few occasions, and then received feedback to not throw in the towel. I was actually contemplating just that, when I was invited to do this interview. It makes me wonder, perhaps the universe is speaking to me, and it's just my responsibility to listen.

AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then
that just floored you the moment you heard them?

Martha: I used to play air guitar at the kitchen table. I'm really not sure why. But I really wanted to learn. My parents gave me a steel string Wurlitzer guitar and classical lessons for a year. In high school I'd lie on my bed and listen to records and dance to them in the living room.
I loved the magic that Elton John and Bernie Taupin created, and imagined myself in the stories they depicted with their music. It was my escape. I specifically loved "Tiny Dancer" and "Your Song". I would sway to Frank Sinatra and stare at the album covers and read the lyrics forever. I loved the song "Thumbelina Dance". I still remember the green checked dress I wore when I danced to that song. I loved Jim Croce, Bread and the Beatles (The White Album). My first public performance was playing "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Paul McCartney on the electric guitar. I was a child of 70's and I'm not sure if I ever left. Eventually in my twenties, I would go to Coffee House performances by Singer Songwriters in the Boston area, and they inspired me to write my own songs. My initiation to performing was singing my songs at open Mics. It was a frightening experience back then, yet something inside me pushed me to continue. No one in my immediate family played an instrument (except my father played the Bugle in the Navy), yet somehow it got into my blood to write and play the guitar. My mom took me to my first Elton John concert at Madison Square Garden. My interest in art began when I did pencil drawings of Elton John and Billy Joel. On my first trip to Europe I heard and saw street musicians play classical songs on the cello and violin. I'll never forgot how beautiful they sounded, and I still have their cassette tape. Later on I made abstract life sized sculptures of those musicians.

AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote or played? Or that first moment when you picked up a pen and realized that you could create whole worlds just by putting it to paper?

Martha: I do remember the first song I ever wrote. It was sort of a children's song. It was called "No Lazy Feet Around".

I walk along my way on such a sunny day.
The mothers are whacking
the ducklings are quacking
No lazy, no lazy feet around...

The first song I ever wrote which was the most meaningful, was after my father died 22 years ago. I said everything I wanted to say that I couldn't say to anyone face to face.

AHC: Which musicians have you learned the most from? Or writers, artists, filmmakers, teachers/mentors etc? Was there a single, seminal
influence, whether artist, poet or musician, who first opened up the creative possibilities in you, perhaps more than any other? Someone whose work you could not imagine yourself living without?

Martha: Elton John, Bernie Taupin, The Beatles, Cat Stevens, Patty Griffin, Suzanne Vega, Joni Mitchell, Marc Chagall, Georgia O'Keeffe, Vincent Van Gogh,  Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Buddhism, Native American Culture, the films "Harold and Maude", "The Sound of Music", "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Everything is Illuminated".

AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak?

Martha: I know the song I'm working on is good, when I start crying in the process of writing it.

AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing/reparative art, an imperfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, states of rupture/rapture, hope lost and regained? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener? Although music and art can perhaps never totally right for us what feels wrong, do you have the sense that who you are now may have been completely different if not for the ability to channel it into song?

Martha: Yes, absolutely.

AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road?

Martha: One of my fondest moments was playing a Concert at The River Bend Hot Springs, in Truth or Consequences, NM. I was performing with Cellist Michael Kott. We were by the river under the stars and the moon. Another precious memory was the day I met my husband. I was playing music at Annapurna Restaurant in Santa Fe, NM. We met and spoke during the break. Not long after we fell in love. The rest is a beautiful history still unfolding. And the third magical moment was when my mom listened to my album "Evidence of Life" for the first time. She said it was perfect.

AHC: When you set out to write a song, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell?

Martha: Where the world is certainly has an impact on my story telling and song writing. This is most evident in my song "GOD'S EYES" and "BLUE PRINT". Often what is happening in the world at large translates to what is happening for one individual as well.

AHC: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are just starting out and trying to find their voice and their way in this world? What are the kinds of things that you tell yourself when you begin to have doubts or are struggling with the creative process? Or what kinds of things have others told you that have helped push you past moments of self doubt/creative blocks?

Martha: Don't give up what's in your heart to do. It's important for me to be as honest as I can while writing and performing music. At times when I feel a creative block or discouraged, I give myself permission and the time to digest things. I find going for walks and being in nature are very helpful for my creative process. I've wanted to give up in the past, and a friend reminded me that Vincent Van Gogh was not truly appreciated until he was gone. Another friend suggested that the audience is on my/your side. They want you to be good.

AHC: Do you have any new projects in the works you'd like to mention?

Martha: I'm working on a new album. So far I've recorded 5 songs. The theme pertains to what goes on beneath the surface of humanity and nature. I'm releasing a single from that album on May, 25th called "THE RIVER". You can find it on www.marthareich.bandcamp.com and soon on CDbaby and itunes. Also prereleased on https://www.standingoproject.com/album/the-river/



For more visit www.marthareich.com