Tony Martinez might be a name that’s new to some, but don’t be mistaken, he’s no overnight success. The singer-songwriter has spent years honing his talents on the way to ‘organically’ crafting his debut album, Everywhere West, a collection of refreshingly authentic country songs, really putting the “Western” in Country & Western and mixing in a healthy dose of rock ‘n’ roll.
From early singles like “Try” to his newest, “Back To The Wall,” Martinez masterfully delivers country songs infused with all the heart and soul he has to give. The title track, “Everywhere West,” is a song that Martinez’s songwriter father Rick Martinez, wrote many years ago, but is now having its time in the sun thanks to Martinez and his good friend Yelawolf, who co-produced the album after signing Martinez to his Slumerican record label.
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“I had a lot of songs, but when we were in there, we’d just start coming up with grooves and beats and stuff, and I wear my dad’s little guitar strap. It’s got conchos on it and s—, and I wear that when I’m playing my Telecaster,” Martinez shared. “I was like, “Man, check this out, Wolf. This is my dad’s old guitar strap.” He’s like, “What? Your dad played music?” He had no clue.”
“I was like, ‘Yeah, man. My dad’s a prolific historically correct cowboy rider, but he’s just a great songwriter all the way around,’” Martinez added, then revealing that this was when he first show the song “Everywhere West” to Yelawolf. “I was like, ‘Yeah, listen to this song,’ and I just popped out ‘Everywhere West’ real quick. He’s like, ‘Dude, we’ve got to put that on the album!’”
“We tracked it that night down at Dark Horse down in Franklin…and that’s where we did most of the tracking for the album,” Martinez continued, then adding, “It just kind of happened organically. Everything in this album happened pretty organically, man.”
Offering some insight into how the album came together, Martinez explained, “Most of these songs are written from my experiences. I was raised in this music with my dad playing, and raised in country and western music, and my mom listened to all the rock and roll stuff, but I was just in the guitar case backstage sleeping in my dad’s guitar case.” He added, “It’s definitely just real, man. It’s just coming from the heart.”
When asked why he waited all these years to drop his debut album, Martinez confesses that it “just wasn’t” the right time before now. “I don’t know, man. I’ve always felt like it just wasn’t time yet,” he said, adding candidly, “I needed more credibility experience and something to really put out there.
Martinez joked, “I’ve squandered probably a couple opportunities in the past by being a wild man, by being a f—ing honky tonk, playing the bars constantly. I’ve probably f—ed up a couple of things here and there in life, but I’ve never given up.” That spirit is something Yelawolf saw “and he loved what I did, and he’s really one of the first people that kind of grabbed me and was like, ‘Man, you’re enough,’ and just took me, he’s like, ‘Let’s fucking get this done.’”
Tony Martinez’s debut album, Everywhere West, is out now. Click here to stream or download the album from your preferred music service. Keep it locked to PopCulture.com for more great country music news, reviews, and exclusives!
