Runco's Weekly Music Breaks its First New Artist: (Special Edition)So this week, the last week of 'blues month,' is a very special week for Runco's Weekly Music - because I am proudly breaking a new artist for the first time: country blues musician, Mick Martin.The first time I heard Mick Martin's music, to say that I was 'very impressed,' would be a great understatement. I was sitting in a room with special wood working to unlock the minute details of sound; it was a quiet room, nobody was speaking, and the music was playing loudly through high quality recording speakers... the song was noticeably recorded on quality microphones, and mastered by an attentive engineer using all the right software. It was the furthest thing from the way the original blues masters were typically heard -- in dirty, loud shacks, while men gambled, drank, and often fought over attending females. But it was special in its own regard, because I could hear 'everything' What I heard was an extension of the blues masters -- a unique and creative blend of the styles that were developed and refined decades ago in the delta and piedmont regions - a sound that still demonstrates its century-old African roots, and a sound that I sincerely hope never dies.Like many of the old blues masters discussed this month, Mick Martin's 'past' is not one I would consider, ordinary. The first time I tried to get a feel for his upbringings, I asked him where he grew up. He told me he 'was raised as a child in the mountains of Appalachia...' I thought, 'I was kinda looking for a city... or maybe even a state, but ok I guess that will do'As a child he was exposed to a lot of music at home with his parents -- primarily bluegrass and 'old jazz,' and what he describes as 'mountain music.' Close relatives were fiddle and banjo players... his mom sang, and his aunt (who lived with Mick), played the harmonica. He states, 'a lot of the songs I know, I know from my mother singing around the house.'As he grew older - he and his friend Lindsley discovered the enormous record collection that was Lindsleys fathers. It was primarily because of these recordings and others that Mick became the country blues player that he is today. Mick says, 'the music that the old masters played and recorded was not easy to learn. There was no music to read, not many concerts to see and not many people to steal the style from at that time. And when I say 'steal,' I mean that there were not many folks eager to show you what they learned from the old masters.' So Mick learned from records, and an occasional performance... 'I saw Skip James in Bethlehem PA... he played in an old grist mill, called Illick's Mill... he and his wife played throughout the night - I'll never forget it.'As a young adult Mick traveled around North America... playing the blues. He went wherever his art took him, in the same fashion as many of the old masters. He now resides several miles outside Pittsburgh in what was once a small church - and he has just completed an album that keeps with the tradition of blues and folk music... as he has creatively 're-worked' songs by some of the greatest artists of our time.On that note, this weeks first song is titled 'Parchman Farm' and was originally written by Mose Allison. The second song is titled, 'St James Infirmary' and was originally written by Irving Mills (made popular by Louis Armstrong).Today is the first day the recordings of Mick Martin are being exposed to the general public... you heard it first here on Runco's Weekly Music.The 2 disc album (cd and dvd), Revelator, is due out in February, 2008. Feel free to contact me for more details. Lay back, relax, and enjoy the culmination of centuries of musical evolution