A versatile musician who has played drums and written songs for various bands, including Screaming Trees and Mad Season, and has also produced music for other artists.
Barrett Martin is a renowned American drummer and record producer, best known for his work with the influential alternative rock bands Screaming Trees and Mad Season. With a career spanning over three decades, Martin has made significant contributions to the music industry, earning a Latin Grammy Award and multiple nominations in various categories.
Born on April 14, 1967, in Olympia, Washington, Martin grew up in a musically inclined family. He studied music for two years at Western Washington University before dropping out to pursue his passion for music in Seattle's thriving alternative rock scene. Martin later earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in ethnomusicology from the University of New Mexico, graduating Summa Cum Laude.
Martin's music career began in 1990 when he joined Skin Yard, contributing to their fourth and fifth studio albums. Simultaneously, he was recruited by Screaming Trees and played on their successful 1992 album Sweet Oblivion. Martin became a full-time member of Screaming Trees until the band's dissolution in 2000.
In the mid-1990s, Martin formed the grunge supergroup Mad Season with Mike McCready, Layne Staley, and Baker Saunders, releasing the album Above in 1995. He later formed another supergroup, Tuatara, with Peter Buck, producing nine albums with the group until its split in 2014.
In addition to his music career, Martin is an accomplished ethnomusicologist. He was ordained as a Zen monk in 2000 and founded Sunyata Records & Books (now known as Sunyata Media) in 2001. As an adjunct professor of ethnomusicology at Antioch University Seattle from 2010 to 2017, Martin shared his knowledge with the next generation of musicians.
Under the moniker Barrett Martin Group, Martin has released ten studio albums since 2004. As a producer, he has worked with various artists, earning a Latin Grammy Award and multiple nominations. Notably, he has produced two albums for the Shipibo Shamans in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest and one album for the Neetsai Gwichin in the Alaskan Arctic.
Through his work with Screaming Trees, Mad Season, and Tuatara, Martin has left an indelible mark on the alternative rock genre. As an ethnomusicologist and producer, he has contributed to the preservation and promotion of indigenous music cultures. Martin's multifaceted career serves as an inspiration to musicians and scholars alike, demonstrating the importance of exploration and experimentation in the creative process.
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