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Strangely enough, Martin contacted me about 5 or 6 years ago when a friend of his let him know that he was posted on MKOC as "one of my favorite 'hidden' stars". He had gotten married to a lovely woman and they had a child. Martin decided then that he didn't want to be on the road... his place was at home with his family. No one can ever fault a man for that.. Men like that are too few and far between! "What Kind of Man", indeed! He has a very prominent job, which I am not going to disclose for the sake of his privacy.. but I can tell you he is doing well. When Martin contacted me, he said he a his road band still played music and had made a recording. He spoke about not having the artwork completed yet on... "an album I recorded with my road band titled 'Not Part of the Herd' by Martin Delray & the Twangmen. It's the real thing. Sonic-wise maybe not up there with a $300,000 project, but it sounds pretty good in a pickup truck!" We were making plans to do a "showcase" for him on MKOC and he was all for it. I was in the process of moving at the time and asked him to hold off on sending me anything until I could send him my new address as I didn't want to take a chance on anything getting lost in the mail. Needless to say, by time I was moved, settled in and able to get online and contact folks, I couldn't find Martin. I haven't given up hope. He's given me years of pleasure through his music so I can wait as long as it takes to hear more. There are thousands upon thousands of talented singers who are overlooked daily but how this man never became a HUGE STAR is far beyond me. In most cases, it has more to do with the label an artist records on more than anything else... if that label works hard with the artist to promote the CD, then all goes well. Think back on the timing of Martin's work and you'll realize, as I have that it was the beginning of the "pop country" craze when far too many great artists were cast aside one by one because they were "too country". I wish those execs who make these silly decisions could see all the emails I've gotten for years from fans of Delray, wanting his CDs and asking where to find them.. wanting to know where and how he is... old friends of his from way back as well as his fans all write to say "Thanks" for having had one little segment on my site about Martin Delray. In that little segment, there was one song clip of "The Wound" (see song clips below). That was all it took to gain a whole new generation of fans so I've come to the point where that little segment just wasn't the tribute that he and his fans deserved... so I've stopped waiting and started updating the pages of "Hidden Artists"... that little bit about Martin where he shared the page with four other artists has turned into this entire page dedicated solely to him and I pray he won't mind. I know his fans won't! As far as I'm concerned, Martin Delray IS and always will be a STAR. He shines as brightly now as he did thirteen years ago in the hearts and ears of the many fans who still contact me, looking to find his CDs. Just hearing his voice can light up a midnight sky and relieve any tensions you may have. Just let him lull you into oblivion. Yes, there's only two albums and I, too wish there were more but I can play these same 2 CDs again and again and never tire of hearing Martin Delray. As the old saying goes... "he could sing the phone book and make it sound like a work of art!".
Marlene (Marli) Slater | |||||||||
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{
Stairway To The Stars } { Stars On The Horizon }
{ Hidden Talent }
{Official Homepages}
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