selina martin
high rez images & press below
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More about the band

If you walk long enough, one foot in front of the other, from the city, you¹ll end up in the country. The opposite applies as well, of course. From countryside to city. Selina Martin has travelled back and forth so many times she can slip effortlessly from gumboots to heels.

Her songs make this same deliberate journey, sometimes tracing a pastoral trail back to traditional folk music and waltzes, and sometimes, with the aid of one of the best bands in the city, they¹re as hard edged and tread stained as downtown concrete. It¹s like a folk pop punk cabaret, but smart.

The four years spent on the road as opening act and accompanist to Bob Wiseman were integral in sharpening her skills as a player and performer. She toured all over North America and parts of Europe exchanging guitar for accordion, theremin, organ, musical saw, wine glasses and, of course, vocals.

Since the release of her critically acclaimed debut CD 'Space Woman', she¹s been working on her 2nd. Co-produced by Michael Phillip Wojewoda and Annelise Noronha it¹s titled 'Life Drawing Without Instruction' and features hugely talented band members Leo Valvassori, Rob Carson, Dave Clark and co-producer Noronha. Guest players include Martin Tielli (also constructing beautiful artwork), N.Q. Arbuckle, Wojewoda, Greg Smith, members of Wayne Omaha, and an instrumental track featuring the junkyard jazz band St. Dirt Elementary School.

This ain't no ordinary album. It¹s like a pilgrimage from wide open fields to crowded streets with a million questions in your mind. It¹s a fighting arena for the forces that are country and city, order and chaos, and a battleground for the grinning catastrophe that is the human being.

Selina lives in Toronto and has toured extensively across Canada from Windsor to Wakefield to Winnipeg and all the way west to Victoria. She has been featured on the CBC radio programs ³Radio Sonic², ³Bandwidth², and ³Sunday Morning², and has been invited to open shows or share the stage, sometimes many times over, by The Rheostatics, Oh Susannah, Martin Tielli, Bob Snider, Veda Hille, Bob Wiseman, Ani diFranco, Kathleen Edwards, and Mia Sheard, to name a few.

Selina Martin is passionate and candid, bestowed with a hunger for lyrics, a striking ear for melody, a gigantic stage presence, and an unforgettable voice.

Press Quotes

" Goodbye to all that, in this towering, funny song (Ordinary Love) by a fine Toronto songwriter. Martin's surgical wordplay is so sharp, and her delivery so disarmingly calm, that the object of her wrath might not even notice the pool of his own blood." - Globe & Mail

"...Astounding" - Ottawa Express

"Martin is returning to some mighty ambitious CanRock soil, but the results are never less than thrilling." - Exclaim!

"Martin's singing is astounding". -- The Toronto Star

"(Selina) Martin's from T.O….has the most ginormous voice and oodles of stage presence and plays many many many instruments and writes clever, oft-biting, but always catchy songs about people's strength, be it more or less. And, yes; she leaves you as out of breath as that last sentence". - Terminal City, Vancouver

"When Selina Martin's new album arrived in my mailbox, and my CD player shortly thereafter, I knew right away she was the good stuff. I knew this would be more than just good. It would be great". - Times Colonist, Victoria

"Space Woman is so expressive, it plays like a contemporary socio-political cabaret. Both lyrically and musically, each song oozes with theatrics demonstrating how Martin's songwriting ability is closely intertwined with her skills as a performer. Martin's vocals… (are) stunning". - Ian Danzig, publisher, Exclaim! Magazine

"I could not stop thinking that Jane Siberry had wed Elvis Costello and Tom Waits performed the service". - Ric Denis, the Humm

The Globe and Mail

(4/4)
Selina Martin has the voice of a thrift-shop angel and the eye of an eagle circling over its prey. She's too decent to lie, and too cruel to look away as you react to what she has to say about your shabby subterfuges, which may also be hers. Her new album is full of sneaky wisdom and good tunes that refuse to know where to draw the line. Her arrangements (made and performed with friends from the Rheostatics end of the indie scene) have a way of billowing into grand or parodic tributes to whatever folly she happens to be discussing. Her band is her Greek chorus, commenting on the action with a leer or a tear. Ideally, these songs would be performed in the seedy, comfortable cabaret whose existence they imply. But that cabaret may not exist, so you'd better just buy the record. - Robert Everett-Green

Vue Magazine - Edmonton

(4/4)

It¹s been seven long years since Selina Martin and the Vertical Brothers released their saucy melodic debut disc Space Woman but the wait was worth it. Life Drawing Without Instruction is a compelling collection, showcasing Martin¹s musicianship, vocal talent and songwriting. Collaborating with Martin Tielli, fellow Rheostatic musician and producer Michael Philip Wojewoda and former Rheos drummer Dave Clark, this disc rings with promise. From supple, lilting Jane Siberry-esque songs like "Saskatchewan" and "Ordinary Love" to swaggering anthems like "Lost Man," "Next Big Thing," and "Talk to Me," (the latter includes some excellent whistling and a full chorus of lads doing the wa-ooohs), Martin shows off her musical range and versatility. Friends and co-horts fill the sound to brimming with strings, horns, accordions and slide guitar to which Martin adds her own guitar prowess and the odd musical saw and tray of wine glasses. The unmistakable rich and layered Rheostatics¹ sound underpins this disc, making each track different from the last. Clark¹s accomplished drumming delights the backbone but never overpowers. The disc concludes with a haunting beauty called "The Train Ride," and then ends with a brief studio clip of Martin: "That¹s all I got." Well, it¹s a lot.
‹ Lisa Gregoire

Ottawa Xpress

(4/4)

"Ordinary love is not for me," muses the alternately sweet- and sharp-tongued Selina Martin right out of the gates. A moment later, she calmly takes a breath, sharpens her claws, and strikes quick, summarily slicing and dicing some feckless chump whose "fairy tale" antics are driven by the "politics from in your pants." Fortunately, "ordinary" music is not for her either. A former U of T drama grad, Martin revels in the unexpected on her tough, tender and frequently astounding sophomore effort Life Drawing Without Instruction-unflinching Brechtian pop theatrics for heartsick spirits and fiery, fed-up souls alike. Piecing together shards of placid folk, paint-peeling punk, and skittish cabaret, Martin writes strident songs to make the guilty flinch, the forlorn swoon, and the defiant swell with courage.
-Steve Baylin

Echo Weekly

A LIFE LESS ORDINARY

By Vish Khanna
It’s been six years since Toronto’s Selina Martin released Space Woman, a much–loved first record that earned her piles of acclaim and a cult following that included many like–minded artists. A musician’s musician, Martin blew in like a breath of fresh air with a voice full of beauty and angst and a wholly unique writing sensibility that tweaks the love song form with brushes of dark humour and spite. While critics and fans sang the praises of Martin and Space Woman, her coming out party crashed early, stalling her creative output just as it began to flow. “I dissolved my first band after our first tour together and, even six years later, I don’t really know why,” she muses. “I felt like I didn’t know where to go from there. I wasn’t writing much at that time and it took a lot out of me to organize the tour myself. I know everybody does it but it makes it tougher to fully focus on the show, which should be the most important part of it. But whatever — here I am doing it again.” Martin’s made an amazing comeback with her latest album Life Drawing Without Instruction. After a couple of years of laying low, Martin felt inspired to write again, slowly composing great songs like “Ordinary Love,” “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and “Saskatchewan” among others, finally collecting them together. The subsequent record is an astounding collection of diverse, lively folk–rock songs that are tricky to pin down. Martin coos and hollers, kisses and spits, and hugs and kicks depending on the song at hand, while an eclectic musical stew brews behind her. There’s a fun, life–affirming sense of play on the record, which belies the process of actually putting the damn thing together. “I guess this record started becoming an idea when I met my bassist Leo (Valvassori) doing a play, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, at the Bathurst Street Theatre,” Martin recalls. “He was in the band and I was an actress/musician and then I met his really good friend Annelise (Noronha) who’s an engineer. They both said, ‘We gotta record your music Selina,’ and now they’re both in my band. It took two years to make the record because of finances and schedules and it came together very piecemeal for the most part. It was nice to have that time but it was also frustrating — like being in labour for four years.” The end result is a record that Martin feels is truer to herself than its predecessor, even if it is less personal. She now views Space Woman as the sound of a young songwriter finding herself, exorcizing personal demons, and focussing more on ‘I, me, mine.’ The new record, however, is a broader, less self–involved effort though always informed by Martin’s unique perspective on
life. It reveals her complete gifts as a songwriter, someone who utilizes her voice and her mind in multi–faceted ways to create something distinctive and thoughtful.
“Sometimes I try to write deliberately about a certain thing,” she says. “Like for the past two years I’ve been trying to write a song about rape during wartime that’s based on “Life During Wartime” by the Talking Heads but it’s a tough one and I haven’t figured it out yet. I like writing heavy songs with contrasting music and I think I’m most successful when it comes out of the blue, when a line or chorus comes and, if you’re lucky, you have access to a guitar or pen to record it. Gradually the song tells you what it’s about; it’s the stuff pot–boiling in the back of your brain taking up time and space and eventually it comes out.” Along its way, Martin’s music has perked some pretty discerning ears. Her new record includes cameos by fans and friends like N.Q. Arbuckle, St. Dirt Elementary School, members of the Weakerthans and Wayne Omaha, ex–Rheostatic Dave Clark and current Rheostatics Martin Tielli (who also painted the cover art), and Michael Phillip Wojewoda (who co–produced the record). Martin recounts these folks with only a touch of awe, viewing them as an extended circle of friends whose origin is a bit foggy. “How did I meet Martin? I don’t know,” she says, answering
her own rhetorical question. “And I think I met Michael Phillip through Martin? I don’t remember how we met actually. Oh wait — we went camping! He was there! I was looking through a telescope and he told me he’d heard my demos and wanted to produce my record and I said, ‘Okay,’ but then Annelise wanted to as well and I let them both do it. So, there was a little bit of fighting that happened but I liked it because it gave me two different opinions and then I could be the tie–breaker.”
Martin’s final say has resulted in more amazing music from a real artist, someone who flies in the face of much of the bullshit, novelty indie–rock that gets lauded these days. “I basically just want to keep myself entertained,” she laughs. “If I find myself repeating myself than I’m not interested in it and I quash it or take it in a different direction until something good happens. I’m not anti–pop but I don’t want to sound like somebody else out there and if I don’t, then I’m happy.”

Post City Magazines

While Life Drawing Without Instruction is only her second album – and the first in more than five years – Selina Martin is very much involved in the Toronto music scene, having worked with stalwarts such as Bob Wiseman and the Rheostatics. The presence of the latter band is particularly marked on the new album – ex-Rheos drummer Dave Clark is in her band. Current drummer and producer Michael Phillip Wojewoda (who also did the Barenaked Ladies’ Gordon) lends his playing and production, and there is stellar album art as well as instrumental contribution from the Rheos’ innovative guitarist Martin Tielli. She sings with a soaring staccato vocal delivery akin to Tielli’s – especially on "Edward Can’t Win." Her music can be described as "folk" or "roots," but those categories hardly begin to do justice to the wide range of music here. Martin’s album is full of lush and eclectic instrumentation (dobros! saws! wineglasses!) and a range of styles held together by her expressive voice and songwriting. From the cut-time country of "20 Miles" to the oompah waltz of "For Love," Martin pushes the musical envelope without ever going to far. On songs such as "Don’t Bring Me Down" and "Saskatchewan" (no relation to the Rheostatics song), her gentle lyricism comes to the fore. It’s been six years since her first album, Space Woman, but hopefully it won’t be another six until she hits the studio again.
- David Fleischer