Jeffrey Martin

After high school, American songsmith Jeffrey Martin spent a few years distracting himself from having to gather up the courage to do what he knew he had to do. Eventually he found his way to a writing degree, and then a teaching degree. He fell in love with teaching high school English, which was fantastic because he never thought he'd actually come to truly love it.

His students were fierce and unstoppable forces of noise and curiosity, they gave him a hundred times back in sparks and humility. He wrote most days like his life depended on it, all sorts of things, not just songs, but songs too. All the while he was also playing truckloads of music. There was one weekend where he flew to LA while grading essays on the plane, played two shows, and then flew back home, still grading essays, and woke up to teach at 5 am on Monday morning. It was around this time he started wondering if such a life was sustainable.

Alas, music, the tour life, was a constant raccoon scratching at the back door. Jeffrey spent nights on end sitting up in bed, and then sitting on the front porch, staring off into the dark, wondering if he could bear to leave teaching to go on tour full time. Eventually his brain caught up with what his guts had known for months. With tears in his eyes he announced to his students that he wouldn't be back the following year, and that he didn't feel right hollering at them to chase their dreams at all cost if he wasn't going to do the same

Jeffrey Martin tours full time now. He is always making music, and he is always coming through your town. He misses teaching like you might miss a good old friend who you know you'll meet again.