Bob Martin

Growing up in a locale where the most stylish arrivals make a beeline to Jack Kerouac's resting place, Bob Martin passed his early years laboring in Merrimack River mills and journeying repeatedly from one coast of the United States to the other. During the 1960s he took part in Boston's folk music community, delivering his own compositions accompanied by acoustic guitar strumming at spots like the Nameless Coffeehouse and Club 47. The start of the 1970s brought a promising chance through a Nashville journey, where he benefited from the expertise of local recording experts such as renowned guitarist Chet Atkins for his RCA release Midwest Farm Disaster.

Yet this effort coincided with setbacks in Martin's professional path mirroring the agricultural misfortune. Even after additional seasons filled with relentless performances, frequently as openers for prominent folk performers, frustration with the industry led him by the decade's midpoint to abandon it. He relocated to a West Virginia farm to raise his children and established the Mountain Heritage School, dedicated to preserving Appalachian traditional skills.

Not until 1982 did he attempt another recording project, issuing Last Chance Rider through the independent June Appal label instead of a major company. He eventually came back to his Lowell, Massachusetts roots and pursued further recordings aiming for broader impact, though intervals spanning ten years often interrupted the progression. In those intervals he worked in roles including school teacher, carpenter, college instructor, house painter and truck driver. The River Turns the Wheel appeared in 1992 via his Riversong label. In 1999 he served as the opening act for a series of performances by country and western icon Merle Haggard.