04/21/2015 - Live Music by Jake Martin at the Mean Woman Grill

Jake Martin is a young songwriter with an old soul. His writing carries a pureness and a quiet integrity wrapped in the lonesome imageries of the heart of a true cowboy. Born and raised in Oklahoma, Martin now calls Texas his home.

“I graduated Oklahoma State University in 2007, ” says Martin. “I got a job, it was my first corporate job and it really wasn’t for me and I recognized it right off the bat. About three months into that, I gave it my two weeks and I packed up everything I own pretty much and headed in the direction of Luckenbach, Texas.

In early 2008, Jake packed up his Martin guitar and a suitcase with his destination in clear view. The move from Tulsa to Luckenbach was not only pre-determined but a date with destiny. Jake’s parents had been coming to the Texas Hill Country since the 70’s, and when Jake was a child they would take summer vacations to the hill country, always stopping in Luckenbach. At 15 years of age, Jake received Jerry Jeff Walker’s “Viva Terlingua” record. This recording would be his introduction to Luckenbach and the famous songwriters associated with the “Viva Terlingua” project. Ultimately, the Texas Hill Country would be the place where Jake would also write and release his very first album in 2010.

Luckenbach started out as a sabbatical type deal, I was going to start there and kind of work my way west and just explore I bit, I guess. But I got a job off the bat working on a ranch just down the road from Luckenbach and then with the music in the Hill Country, I’m still amazed by it. It’s my favorite kind of music, and I guess this is my home now. I’m happy here, I’m happy with my day work at the ranch, and with the music there are a lot of places to play, a lot of places to express yourself.”

If you have been through Luckenbach Texas in the past couple of years, chances are you may have seen him. Sometimes performing, sometimes listening, whenever he isn’t working or playing somewhere else, Luckenbach is where he’ll be. He’s become part of the fabric of Hill Country way of life. With a polite and respectful manner different than most young men and with absolutely no ego or an ounce of rudeness lingering anywhere in his demeanor, at first glance Martin seems young, innocent and untouched. But once he starts singing a song like ”Passin’ Cactus”, “Made To Be Free” or “Buzzards in The Pen”, the soulful depth of his music paints a picture of someone has deep reverence for life. Someone who holds secrets. And in those secrets is a wisdom the listener can only hope to grasp. The Texas Hill Country has welcomed him, and now we welcome him to Lubbock, the Hub of Texas Music.With Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Waylon Jennings, The Eagles, Jerry Jeff Walker, The Byrds, Bob Dylan and many other distinctive movers and shakers of varying genres as role models, Jake has set his sights pretty high for himself. Jake has an instinctive knack for writing about and contrasting the natural world against man’s world. His style is his own. He tells stories. That is what Jake Martin does best. You can add and subtract the instrumentation and the result is the same. The stories are powerful. If you are a person who has lived in this world, you can identify with a lyric such as “all in a rush just to get nowhere” or “Concrete correction, it sure does get to me” or “I’m packed up to go and all I want to do is stay”.

No one can tell Jake’s stories better than he. Just when you think the song content might be a bit harrowing, (i.e., telling a story of buzzards in the pen, a recollection of a natural state of the Texas Hill Country and the daily ways of wildlife) Jake spins the story with a subtle understanding of the fact that there is something bigger than all of us….. making this world go ‘round. In this high tech world, Martin’s music brings the energy of the Cowboy spirit to the forefront. In the song “A Hundred Years Too Late”, he points out the beauty of life in a simpler time, and wishes he was alive then. But, then he wouldn’t be in the here and now reminding us of what really matters, when we need it the most.

Get your burger on with live music at the Mean Woman Grill!