Charlotte Martin

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Charlotte Ann Martin (born March 29, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, who performs predominantly on the piano. She has written several studio albums, two of which have received mainstream commercial releases, 2004's On Your Shore and 2006's Stromata.

Biography

Martin grew up in Charleston, Illinois. She won the Miss Illinois Teen USA 1994 title on June 26, 1994 and went on to represent in the Miss Teen USA pageant broadcast live from Biloxi, Mississippi on August 16.^[1] Martin graduated from Eastern Illinois University (EIU) in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in vocal performance,^[2][3] majoring in opera.^[4] In 1999, Charlotte moved to Los Angeles. On September 30, 2005, she married musician/producer Ken Andrews. Their first child, Ronen Joseph Andrews, was born on May 4, 2008.

Martin's father, Joseph Martin, is a music professor at EIU.^[5] Her mother, Becky Martin, is an administrator of a program for developmentally disabled adults.

Career

Pre On Your Shore

Prior to the release of Martin's major-label debut On Your Shore, she had written two full length albums and two EPs. Her first foray into song writing came in the form of Mystery, Magic & Seeds: an album written as a result of a friend's death. Another album One Girl Army remained unreleased, though an EP was released independently containing a few songs from the album and many of the songs are still performed live. The masters for this record are now owned by her former label, RCA Records.

In 2002, Test-Drive Songs, a limited edition EP containing eight tracks, was released independently. The hard copy is out of print but it is still available for download at digital outlets, including Martin's official site.

Before the release of On Your Shore, an EP titled In Parentheses was released on RCA Records. It contained four tracks, one of which ("Your Armor") was also included with additional strings on On Your Shore. Released August 5, 2003. A video for the single, "Your Armor", was released later in the year.

On Your Shore

On August 10, 2004, On Your Shore, Charlotte Martin's first full-length album on a major label, RCA, was released. A video for the single, "Every Time It Rains", was also released.

To help promote the album, Martin toured on the "Chicks With Attitude" tour with Liz Phair, The Cardigans, and Katy Rose in the summer of 2004.

Darkest Hour and Veins

Whilst touring, two EPs were released in preparation for Martin's second album Stromata, showcasing Charlotte's darker and more experimental sound. The first EP, Darkest Hour was available exclusively on her summer tour 2005 and included 6 tracks (including a cover of Depeche Mode's "Judas" and two remixes). The second EP, Veins was pre-released on her 2005 fall tour and then released online in the November of that year.

On May 1, 2006 a DVD of live recordings, titled Something Like A DVD, was released via Musictoday.

Martin co-wrote and contributed vocals to "Glass Breaker", a song by The Crystal Method, released on the soundtrack for the Chris Evans / Jessica Biel movie London.

Stromata

On September 12, 2006, Martin's second full length album on a major label, Stromata, was released worldwide on Charlotte's own label Dinosaur Fight Records. Two digital singles were released on iTunes and other outlets in Summer 2006, containing four b-sides from the album. A third digital single was released early in 2007, also available on iTunes. A video for the single "Stromata" was released online and is available for purchase on online outlets. Two bonus tracks were also made exclusively available to iTunes, "Habit" and a remix of the title track. The album showcased a darker sound, with keyboards and other electronic instruments being predominant in the mix (as opposed to the more acoustic piano-based feel of previous records).

On May 1 2007, Something Like A DVD was re-released as a DVD/CD dual package, including exclusive b-sides to Stromata and backstage footage surrounding the making of On Your Shore. The DVD is described as being the bridging piece between On Your Shore and Stromata by Martin's publicity releases.

Martin co-wrote and contributed vocals to the song "Sweet Things" on DJ Tiësto's 2007 album Elements of Life. She co-wrote and contributed vocals and piano to the song "Is This How Love's Supposed to Feel" on Ben Lee's 2007 album Ripe. She co-wrote and contributed vocals to the song "Feed the Monster" for BT's forthcoming album.

Orphans

On September 2, 2008, Martin confirmed the release of a new studio EP, Orphans. A video blog was posted several days later on September 8 revealing more details on the project, which contains b-sides and other material left off On Your Shore and Stromata (hence the EP name Orphans). Most of the tracks are re-recorded or remastered, such as the Stromata b-side "Habit" and two tracks from her EP Test Drive Songs ("Many Rivers" and "Raven"). "Galaxies" and "Is This Called Desire" are two previously unheard tracks featured on the EP, along with old live fan favorite "The Stalker Song" (aka: "I'm Normal, Please Date Me") appearing for the first time in studio form.

In a first for Martin, a contest was held for her fans to design the cover art for the EP. Orphans was released on 11 November 2008 and is available on American iTunes. Work continues on her next full-length album, which is expected sometime in 2009.

In 2009, she released the instrumental Piano Trees, a collection of improvised piano songs.

Discography

A complete list of Martin's discography is available on her official site.

Albums

• Mystery, Magic & Seeds (1998)
• One Girl Army (2001)
• On Your Shore (2004)
• Stromata (2006)
• Reproductions (2007)
• Piano Trees (2009)

Singles

EPs

• One Girl Army (EP version, contained several songs from the full album.)
• Test-Drive Songs (2002)
• In Parentheses (2003)
• Darkest Hour (2005)
• Veins (2005)
• Stromata (EP version) (2006)
• Rarities 1-5 (2006-2009)
• Orphans (2008)

DVDs

• Something Like A DVD (2005, re-released in 2007 as Dual DVD/CD set with B-Sides from On Your Shore and Stromata.)

Additional credits

• Charlotte's song "Beautiful Life" appears in the hit computer game The Sims 2: University expansion pack, but she translated it into and recorded it in the game's fictional language of Simlish, and "Keep Me In Your Pocket" appears in The Sims 2: Bon Voyage.
• Charlotte co-wrote and recorded "Glass Breaker" with The Crystal Method. The song appears on the London Movie Soundtrack.
• Martin released three "rarity" CDs on her Something Like a DVD Tour in Spring 2006. These contain previously unreleased or hard-to-find material and sparked something of a scavenger hunt, since they were only being given out at certain shows. One of the songs featured, "Cool Killer," is home-recorded, and features Charlotte scolding her dog Hugo in the background.
• Charlotte's voice can be heard in "Prologue" and "Epilogue" on the Mae album, The Everglow.
• Charlotte is the vocalist/pianist and a co-writer in the song "Greater Lights" on the soundtrack of the game Advent Rising.
• Charlotte recorded "Bring On the Day" for the film Sweet Home Alabama starring Reese Witherspoon in 2002, and the song is featured in the opening sequence of the movie. The song can also be found on the soundtrack to the film.
• She is credited with additional vocals on the song "Inhuman" by Thousand Foot Krutch, on their album, The Flame in All of Us.
• Charlotte's songs "Veins" and "The Dance" were used during the third and fourth seasons of the hit television show So You Think You Can Dance.
• Charlotte co-wrote and played piano on the song "Is This How Love's Supposed to Feel" on the "Ben Lee" album "Ripe".
• Charlotte co-wrote and sang 'Sweet Things" on the 2007 "Tiesto" album "Elements of Life".

Trivia

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007)

• Charlotte likes to joke around or surprise people at her shows, including jumping off the stage to say hi to a loyal fan, playing a lap piano on the pavement outside a venue, and making faces at cameras in the audience.
• Charlotte celebrates her birthday on Halloween.
• Martin has toured with the likes of Howie Day, Matt Nathanson, Liz Phair, Jason Mraz, Damien Rice, Pete Yorn, and Veruca Salt.
• Martin is a self-proclaimed New Order fan and performed a cover version of their song "Bizarre Love Triangle" at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 6, 2007.

References

External links

• Official website
• Charlotte Martin collection on the Internet Archive's live music archive
• Charlotte Martin at MySpace
• Charlotte Martin live on WOXY.com, April 4, 2006
• Charlotte Martin live on WOXY.com, November 3, 2006