Martin Gilmore Music - April 2025

Happy April!

I just got back from vacation in beautiful Santa Cruz, California where life is pretty great. I ate great food, sat on the beach, wandered through the redwoods, played some excellent Santa Cruz guitars, made some fun YouTube videos with my buddy Jackson Emmer (coming soon), and had a swell time in what is becoming one of my favorite places in America. We stopped at Death Valley on the way out, which has been a place I have wanted to see for a long time. It was a nice respite, and I turned 41 while we were out and about. 

March was busy with teaching and travel. My Swallow Hill courses are rolling along and I played some wonderful shows in Alamosa and La Veta, Colorado. Eric Thorin sat in for those gigs, and it’s always great to share the stage with him. I also played some fun solo shows including one at the Jamestown Mercantile and a really fun one opening for the great Boulder band Jake Leg at the Chautauqua Community House. Many of those places have become old standby gigs, and it’s always so great to catch up with people in those places. One of the best things about my job is that I get to meet folks from all over the world and make friends with them when I go to play shows. I’m always excited to go back!

Right out of the chute, I want to feature some big news, and that is I am releasing a new record titled “Thea is a Light Blue” this month, on April 22nd! It will be my fifth solo album and features several original songs, a few traditional tunes, and one of my favorite Hank Williams songs all played solo. Meaning, just me and my guitar sitting in front of the microphones playing songs for you. I recorded it at Swingfingers Studios in Fort Collins, Colorado and Aaron Youngberg made it sound great! I have recorded several records up there and he just has a magic touch for capturing sounds. David Glasser at Airshow Mastering put the final touches on it, and it really sounds wonderful. I’m so excited for you to hear it. 

It features some of the songs I played for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour Competition and the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Songwriter’s Showcase competition last summer (2024) as well as many others. The title comes from a song I wrote about a painting by the fantastic Boulder, Colorado based painter William Stoehr. He paints very moving portraits of people who have suffered from addiction and the song is about finding a kinder inner voice. There are some other songs focused on historic themes like the Orphan Train, King John of England, the American Civil War, etc. I worked hard on these songs, and this record has been in the works for a long time. 

You can pre-order it now on Bandcamp! I’m offering it as a digital download as well as a CD, with hopes of printing some vinyl records this summer (I do get asked about that from time to time). If you are interested in contributing to the record, the best way to do that is to pre-order it. Just go to martingilmore.bandcamp.com and it will walk you through the process. Digital albums will be available on April 22nd for streaming or download, and if you pre-order a CD it will show up in your mailbox! Of course, it will also be available on streaming sites, but those pay a lot less. If you like supporting independent musicians, please consider buying their music, and Bandcamp is a great place to do that! Either way, I’m excited for you to hear it and happy that you are listening!

A couple of things to announce for April in regards to shows. I will be playing the bluegrass music at Oskar Blues in Lyons, CO on April 25th at 7pm with my friends in The Otherners. This is a fun side project with myself, Eric Thorin, Justin Hoffenberg, Chris Elliott, Dave Ritchie, and Jordan Ramsey. It’s a good excuse to get together and play the music we love. If you are around, come and see us!

April 27th, I will be playing with my friend Jovan Mays for an event at the Table Public House in Denver at 2pm. Jovan is an award winning poet and educator who I have collaborated with a lot in the past. We have been friends for decades now and I love collaborating with him. His poetry is so moving, and I am always glad to be in his presence. I hope you can come join us!

I don’t have any new classes starting this month, but I am working on making new videos on my YouTube channel all the time. If you haven’t checked out my educational videos over there, you should definitely do that. There’s a lot of stuff there for bluegrass guitarists, and a lot more coming your way this year. 

Additionally, I have been doing some live Q&A sessions on my YouTube channel and the next one will be on Monday, April 21st at 7pm. These are fun online hang-outs where I play songs, answer questions, talk about music and history, and much more! Come and see what’s going on with my YouTube content, I enjoy making it!

Finally, my Songsmith Series Project on Patreon is rolling right along. If you’re not familiar with it, here are the details. Each week I write and record a new song and post it on my Patreon. Subscribers get to hear the songs first, they get a little bit of insight into the music, and those who contribute at a higher level get access to a “songbook” with the lyrics and chords included. If you haven’t heard of Patreon, basically, it’s a way to support musicians, artists, projects, etc. with a small monthly contribution. For just $5 or $10 each month you can help me continue to write and record music. It’s an especially great way to support your favorite artists if you enjoy streaming their music on Amazon or Spotify (which often don’t pay well for independent artists). Not only does it help keep musicians and artists going (because making music is expensive) but you also get access to lots of stuff that other fans do not! Sign up now and join the Songsmith Series club! It would be great to have you!

April is the month to start planting my garden. I tore the fence out that surrounded mine, and I will be rebuilding it on and off throughout the month. In addition, I’ll be planting seeds, tilling the soil, and investing in the future. There are a lot of life lessons to learn from growing a garden, but the biggest one is optimism. You plant seeds with the full faith that they will grow and pay-off in the future. Which means you believe in the future. 

I feel like we should plant seeds wherever we go. Seeds in our garden, seeds of friendship, seeds of knowledge,  seeds of hope, etc. because it’s worth investing in the future. 

I hope to see you very soon!

Martin

P.S. Please pre-order my new record! Ha!!!