Latin Grammy-winning producer, composer, percussionist, and writer, Barrett Martin, has been playing music professionally for over 30 years, including work on over 120 albums and film soundtracks worldwide. His work can be heard on albums by R.E.M., Queens Of The Stone Age, Mad Season, Screaming Trees, Tuatara, Blues legend CeDell Davis, and recording sessions that range from the Peruvian Amazon, to Brazil, Cuba, the Palestinian West Bank, the Mississippi Delta, and the Alaskan Arctic. Barrett also holds a master’s degree in ethnomusicology and linguistics, and has practiced Zen for over 25 years.
He has guest lectured at several universities across the United States, and has written essays for The Huffington Post and Riot Material (links below). In 2014 he was awarded the ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thompson Award for excellence in writing, and in 2017 he received two Latin Grammy nominations, winning a Grammy for producing Nando Reis’ Best Brazilian Rock Album, “Jardim-Pomar”.
Barrett’s first book, “The Singing Earth,” was released in 2017, and his second book, “The Way Of The Zen Cowboy,” was released in 2019. His third book, “Stillpoint,” will be released on October 8th, 2021. His solo band, The Barrett Martin Group, has released 10 studio albums to date.
Photo by Tad Fettig