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Interview with Texas Artist

Chris Austin Martinez

By P. Michaels, Freelance writer for several Texas newspapers
September 2011

I recently sat down with singer/songwriter Chris Austin Martinez at the Marriot in Houston, Texas to discuss his life as an Independent artist.  Chris was performing that night and I thought it would be a good chance to interview an Independent Texas artist on his own turf.  I found Chris to be exceptionally engaging with a sharp sense of humor.  His outlook on life is extremely positive and it was a real joy spending some time with him.  I left feeling as though I had just met one of the happiest guys in Houston.  Here is some of what Chris and I discussed that evening.

Q. So Chris, are you originally from the Houston area? 

Chris- Well, I was born here in Houston but raised just up the street from here in good ole’ College Station, Texas.  I moved there in the second grade and stayed until I left for College.

Q. Where did you attend college?

Chris- I started at a Dallas community college then transferred to Abilene Christian University.  I was there 3 years before I realized that you had to study to get good grades so I took a real job and never looked back.

Q. I couldn’t help but notice your baseball cap.  Did you serve in the Navy?

Chris- Yes I did.  In the late 80’s I decided that I wanted to see the world so I signed up and jumped right into the Gulf war.  I remember is that it was hot and I pretty much got in every body’s way.  I did get to entertain for the guys every now and then and that was a lot of fun.  It was a good experience and I made some great friends.

Q. When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in the music business?

Chris- Well, I was told that I began to display a real love for music at an early age.  My late father would tell me that I would bang my fork and spoon on the high chair to the music playing on the radio.  He noticed that I was actually banging to the beat.  Of course, that’s how I lost an eye.  Just kidding, anyway, I won my first talent show by the age of 5 and music was never far from my heart from then on.  But to honestly answer that question, I really didn’t KNOW that music would be my life until I was in my mid 30’s. Until then it was just a small part.

Q. So why did you get started so late in life?

Chris- Well, that’s really a three part answer.  First of all, I didn’t think that I was good enough to be in this business.  Second, I didn’t really have the support from the right person.  You know that significant other who helps you believe in yourself.  And third, I just wasn’t ready to jump in with both feet because in this business, or any other for that matter, you’d better be ready to give it your all or you don’t have a chance.  A smart man once told me that success is right around the corner from total failure.  I had to be willing to fail at the one thing that I had always loved.  So in 2001, right after 9-11, I quit doing everything else that I was doing, grabbed my guitar, married my high school sweet heart and started playing for anyone who would listen.

Q.   So did you start playing guitar at a young age?

Chris- No, not at all.  I was a drummer first and foremost.  But I noticed while in high school that I also really loved to sing. One of the bands that I was playing drums for asked me to take over lead vocals and the rest was history. I started messing around with the piano and acoustic guitar in my twenties and twenty years later I finally know how to play 5 chords.  It’s a good thing that you only have to know 3 chords to play most country songs. (Laughing)              

Q.   What was your plan when you first started?

Chris- Plan?  Well, I was looking at it like this.  My new wife told me to just start playing for anyone who would listen and then maybe, just maybe, someone would actually pay me to play for them.  And to my surprise, she was right.  It started slowly at first.  But little by little word began to spread about this guy who could play and sing all the cool 70’s songs and sound pretty good doing it.  It was never my intention to be on the radio or try to sign a big record deal.

It seems like everybody is trying to get famous now a days.  I have a few buddies who signed on the dotted line and now they wish that they hadn’t.  With today’s technologies, it’s so much easier to get the word out.  All I ever really wanted to do is sing to others who enjoy the sound and feel of live music.  Anybody can hire a DJ and most people do but lucky for me there’s a group of people around my age who love to listen to live music.  Good live music has a way of really touching your soul.  If I can get them to forget about their problems for just a few hours then I’ve done my job.

Q. You really do sound a lot like several of those 70’s artist when you perform.  Who do your fans compare you to most?

Chris- Oh, I don’t know.  I really don’t try to sound like anyone in particular but sometimes it just comes out that way.  I guess most people tell me that I kind of sound like Cat Stevens, which of course is a great compliment.  

Q. When did you start writing and performing your own songs?

Chris- I actually started writing my first few songs while playing drums for an all original group in Austin, Texas.  It was the late nineties and I was just buying time back then. All the guys in the group were very talented and wrote and they started asking me to write something so I did.  Of course, no one really wanted to play the “drummer’s” songs but we finally did and I got a good response from that.  That experience gave me the confidence to keep writing my own stuff.  My first CD “Guardian Angel” is a recording of me jamming on all the instruments.  I liked what I recorded but my wife quickly pointed out that those who listen to me live want to hear what I sound like live on my CD’s.  So the rest of my CD’s are mostly of me and my guitar.  The way I sound live. 

Q. How many songs have you written and which is your favorite?

Chris- Wow, I really haven’t counted lately but I would guess that I’ve written around a hundred songs so far.   As far as which is my favorite song, that’s kind of like asking a parent which kid do you love the most.  They all have a place in my heart.  But I will say that my fans, all 4 of them, like for me to perform “I Was There” and “79 Yellow Camero” an awful lot.  My song “Love” is probably my wife’s favorite.

Q. “I Was There” has had some success on the air waves.  When did you write that song?

Chris- I was sitting on the coach back in 2009 watching TV when this program came on about JFK.  It got me thinking about all that has happened sense his death and that I was here on earth to experience so many crazy events.  I picked up my guitar and the song just kind of wrote itself into existence.  I get told a lot by the over 45 crowd that they were there too.  I think the song helps us to remember a simpler time in our lives.             

Q. What would you say to a young artist that is just trying to get into the business?

Chris- I would say to them...just don’t do it.  I don’t need the competition.  No, what I really tell my younger compadras is to just do what you love to do.  Write what you love to write and whatever happens will happen.  Play to whoever and where ever you can as often as you can.  You want to be showered, shaved, dressed and packed when and if opportunity knocks.  And if you’re wondering if you’re good enough to be in this business like I did then ask yourself this question.  Has a complete stranger asked you to entertain for them and, this is the important part, asked how much do you charge? If the answer is yes then run baby run!  If not, then maybe your friends and family just don’t want to hurt your feelings so I wouldn’t quit my day job just yet. It’s like I always say to strangers who ask me if I’m any good after they find out what I do for a living.  I tell them that my mother thinks so. 

Q. All right, I have one more question.  Have you always been such a positive guy?

Chris- What’s not to be positive about?  The world has enough negativity in it.  Why should I add to that?  All I really have is today so I might as well enjoy it.  Whenever I would say the word tomorrow around my grandmother she would snap right back, “Lord willing”.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my share of tough times.  I mean some real low moments in my life.  But its times like that that make you really appreciate what you’ve got.  So what’s not to be happy about?  I’ve got so much to be thankful for.  Heck, if we stop and think about it, we all do.  But hey, I get to play and sing for a living.  My father use to say.  “When you start feeling sorry for yourself remember the man with no feet.  Then get back on yours and start walking”.             

Biography

Chris Austin Martinez

For the true musician, music is a part of their soul, it's  in their blood, in their heart, and always on their minds.   Music is your life and this is true for Chris! 

Music has always been and always will be who Chris is.  A friend who has known him since they were young boys once said of him, “Chris could dance before he could walk, sing before he could talk and was born with a pair of drum sticks in his hands!”    He found himself playing drums before the age of five and even won his first of many talent shows starting at this time.

Chris didn't think much about singing till the age of ten when he was singing out loud to the radio in his uncle's pick-up when his uncle turned to him and said, "Hey kid, you got a pretty good voice!"

Playing drums and singing with bands took him through high school and college and he eventually settled on what was expected...a real job.  However the music was never far from his heart and always on his mind.  

After a life changing event, Chris made a decision to commit his life to music.  

His fans love that he can go from John Mayer to Jimmy Buffet, U2 to Garth Brooks, Matchbox Twenty to the Eagles, and James Blunt to Hootie and the Blowfish!  That's only the beginning...

Chris covers more than 125 artists and can sing more than 14 hours of music without repeating a song...which is how he's become known as the "Human Juke Box".

He has shared the stage with such acts as Clint Black, Roger Creager, Johnny Rodriquez, Hank Williams III, and country music legend Ray Price just to name a few. 

Chris can be found playing and singing all over this great state of Texas and from coast to coast...and even Mexico on many occasions!

Chris has recorded eight CD’s to date and has entertained for events as small as intimate weddings to some of our state's largest festivals.

Music = Memories
Chris brings them back to you!