Biography
Brooklyn NY-born Martin Rivas has been writing music for a dog's age now, and performing as part of various bands in the New York City area, most notably as singer/guitarist for Serious Pilgrim, with whom he recorded and toured for a few years, opening for great folks like Aimee Mann, Gov't Mule, Live, Hootie & the Blowfish, Joan Jett, and God knows who else.
Martin has also recorded with folks like Yoko Ono, and has been fortunate enough to perform on occasion with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
Currently, you can catch him playing his compositions with his band, a merry group of folks who he absolutely loves being with, performing at venues in Greenwich Village and on Manhattan's Lower East Side, although music has recently flung him as far as the Virgin Islands, California, and Ireland, with plenty more travel dates to come.
Martin recently received the honor of appearing as part of the New York Songwriters' Circle; he's looking forward to doing it again soon. Work has been completed on his latest CD, Sea of Clouds, which will be available 13 August 2009. "Hope," from Martin's 3rd solo release, Pride of the Valley, was featured as the closing song for the independent film "Leaving New Hope," and "Designed to Break" (also from Pride of the Valley) was a featured track in the independent film "Showcase."
Additionally, Martin is playing guitar with Kailin Garrity, and he is singing backing vocals and playing acoustic guitar with Rachel Platten... both incredibly talented NYC-based singer/songwriters.
And, in keeping with his humble effort to stay as insanely busy as possible from a musical standpoint, you can catch Martin a few nights per week playing his favorite old rhythm & blues music with his best friend, percussionist Craig Meyer, in venues around Manhattan.
Visit www.martinrivas.net for even more information.
Instrumentation
solo performances:
Martin Rivas - vocals, guitar
duo performances:
Martin Rivas - vocals, guitar
Craig Meyer - percussion
trio performances:
Martin Rivas - vocals, guitar
Craig Meyer - drums
Brian Killeen - bass, backing vocals
when performing with full band:
Martin Rivas - vocals, acoustic guitar
Craig Meyer - drums, percussion
Eric Katerle - electric guitar
Brian Killeen - fender bass
Daniel Weiss - organ
Chris Kuffner - electric guitar
Ryan Vaughn - percussion
Discography
Glorious (2000)
Bottleneck (2002)
Pride of the Valley (2005)
Sea of Clouds (August 2009)
VIDEO:
A New Word live at The Bitter End, 1/12/09:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMsP8gyFlC4&feature=PlayList&p=232E80B61A5E1BB4&index=0
North live at The Bitter End, 2/9/09:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhnXXVAwpMY&feature=PlayList&p=5F745D49187855EA&index=7
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