So who is Walter Martin?
I’m a songwriter and musician and I’ve been in the bands The Walkmen and Jonathan Fire*Eater in one form or another since I was 12. I also make a lot of music under my own name and write songs for film, TV and advertising. You can learn all about my work here.
What’s the deal with your radio show?
In 2024, I started a weekly radio show (Walter Martin Radio Hour) on Sunday nights on my favorite radio station, WEXT in upstate New York and I post new episodes on my Substack every Friday. I play vinyl records from my record collection and talk about why I like them and why other people might like them.
What’s the show like?
It’s an informal hour-long show recorded live with my favorite scratchy records. I provide some deep and shallow commentary and some mostly accurate background for the songs (no Googling allowed). Basically I just play great records and joke around.
Why do you think you are qualified to do a radio show?
I don’t know… I mean, I’ve been collecting records since I was 15 or so and over a few decades as a touring musician I think I went to basically every record store on planet Earth and I’ve got a ton of great records. I’ve always been the guy in my friend-group who finds the music and makes the mix tapes and all that, so now I’m doing that for anyone who wants to listen. Does that qualify me?
Can I hire you to pick music for something?
Yes. I’m available to put together music for private events — either playing records in person or curating the music remotely — and for music curation and consulting for films, hotels, restaurants, brands, and other projects.
If you think my ears might be useful for something, send me an email: info@waltermartinmusic.com
What kind of music do you like?
I like just about every kind of music, but my musical world mostly revolves around early rock ’n’ roll. Once I fell in love with those records, I started wondering who made them, who played on them, what they were listening to, who wrote the songs, who arranged them, what else those musicians worked on, and where all those ideas came from.
Following those threads led me to folk music, blues, country, jazz, soul, Caribbean music, Brazilian music, classical music, gospel, punk, hip-hop, and a thousand other strange and wonderful places. One great record almost always leads to another.
So I guess that’s what this show is: me following those trails and bringing back the best things I find.
Do you think you have better taste in music than most people?
That’s a weird question… I’ve never thought about it that way before..
Well, do you?
Ummm. I don’t know…no…? I mean…I think I might listen to a lot more music than most people.
So does that mean you like better music than most people?
Not necessarily. But I mean, I listen to music all the time basically so I guess, when you do that, you end up getting sick of the mediocre stuff pretty quick and, by necessity, you have to find more great stuff and then you wind up knowing about a lot of great stuff. I dunno…does that make sense?
Why would anyone become a paid member?
Good question! That’s all explained here: Why Pay?
But briefly — in addition to the regular radio show, and the satisfaction of supporting my work, paid members get access to all episodes, all special episodes, weekly playlists, the playlist archive and whatever else comes up. Most of the new features are coming out on the paid tier.
Can I give someone a gift subscription?
Yes! And I’ll send you a handsome physical gift card to pass along. Get gift cards here.
Do you like new music?
Yes.
Like who?
I like SZA. And Adrianne Lenker. And I like Sam Gendel’s records a lot. And I dunno, I like a lot of new stuff. Oh and I love that song called Million Dollar Baby. I forget who sings it but it’s so good.
Yeah I agree. Million Dollar Baby rules.
Yeah totally.
Ok, if you know so much about music, tell me a song I’ve never heard before that will blow me away.
ok…
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