March is here! It’s hard to believe that the first two months of the year are already gone, and it’s also hard to believe that I am turning forty this month. Time goes so fast, but I am thankful for my life, for my family and friends, and for all my fans and supporters. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else but playing and teaching music.
Speaking of that! February was an amazing month of shows and classes. My class about the Big Bang of Country Music for the University of Denver Enrichment Program was a great experience. The students were very enthusiastic and even had a lot of information to share with me. It’s so much fun teaching and learning with students. The concert of Jimmie Rodgers and Carter Family music at Swallow Hill was wonderful. It was a sold out show in one of my favorite rooms in Denver (Tuft Theater). The Cody Sisters played imaginative and well arranged versions of Carter Family songs and I had fun re-imagining Jimmie Rodgers repertoire. It was so great to see so many fans and students there.
Likewise, it was great to be back at the Midwinter Bluegrass Festival in Northglenn, Colorado. Ben Slocumb and Dianne Stober have re-invigorated this Colorado bluegrass staple and it was such a success to see all the bands, jammers, friends, and bluegrass lovers alike. If you missed it this year, I highly recommend this festival. It’s a wonderful community festival with great music, classes, and much more. I want to extend a thank you to Dianne and Ben for having my University of Northern Colorado Bluegrass Ensemble as part of the Saturday lineup. The students worked hard and it was a great experience for them. I am grateful to have been part of this year’s lineup with them and with The Martin Gilmore Trio.
Many of you probably saw the news that I released a new album of songs about the American West titled “Trade Songs: American West”. These are songs that I have played for classes and history programs at the University of Denver Enrichment School, as well as for the National Park Service. I have played these songs for years, and have had requests for recordings before so I went to my friend Eric Wiggs’ studio and recorded nine songs on December 9th, 2023. These are all classic folk and cowboy songs.
I’m allowing folks to name their price for the music or, if people are interested, they can trade something for the record. If you have something you would like to trade you can contact me by responding to this email and I can send the details. I’ll accept anything in trade as long as it’s not illegal, offensive, or gross. If you prefer to trade cash you can go to martingilmore.bandcamp.com and name your price! Just pay whatever you think is fair for independent music.
I am playing a run of online shows on my YouTube channel this month. I played one featuring music from my new record on February 25th.
March 3rd will feature the songs from Jimmie Rodgers that I played on February 24th at Swallow Hill.
March 10th will feature music from the Carter Family.
March 17th will feature all original music (and maybe some Irish music since it’s St. Patrick’s Day.)
You can find the livestreams at www.youtube.com/@martingilmore and while you’re there please subscribe!
I don’t have many public performances this month, but the Martin Gilmore Trio will be performing at Luther Strings on March 16th at 7:00pm. We have played here for the last three years. It’s a wonderful string shop in east Denver. Their room is not very big so if you are interested in attending I would strongly encourage you to get tickets early! You can find them at: lutherstrings.com
My Intermediate Bluegrass Ensemble at Swallow Hill will be running again starting March 6th. Come and play some bluegrass music with us. We learn four songs over eight weeks, arrange them, and perform two of them on stage at the end of the session. It’s always a lot of fun and a great way to build your chops while meeting folks to jam with. Sign up now!
The summer is starting to fill up and I’m looking forward to traveling to some new places and collaborating with some new friends. I’ll be playing a tour of Colorado with Jackson Emmer in early June and we will also be up in Montana at the end of that month. I’m looking at going to the Pacific Northwest in early August, and playing a tour of the Southwest in October. If you know any places I should check out please let me know!
Thanks for supporting my music for all these years, I’m looking forward to many more. Forty…sheesh!
Martin