Barrett Martin is an overachiever. The Singing Earth Tour was a TED talk from the veteran drummer. Equipped with hands-free mic, video feed, and a stage full of drums, Barrett told tales of his drumming life. In the 90s, Barrett played for seminal grunge vehicle The Screaming Trees. Coming out of Seattle alongside Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden, the Trees were the least visible. While many of his flannel-clad contemporaries succumbed to drugs, alcohol, or suicide, Barrett dug in to all things percussive. The story starts post-Trees with Barrett befriending Peter Buck of REM. The heft of Buck’s popularity opened doors and presented opportunities that veered far from the Pacific Northwest. First stop was Cuba. On a State Department sponsored junket, US and British musicians convened in Havana with local musicians. Artists names were pulled out of flower pots and given 24 hours to collaborate. Barrett’s group had Peter Frampton and three Cuban jazzbos, he said their effort was great but is the property of the US government and has been filed away. Off to Bali where Barrett immersed himself in the gamelan. He tried to purchase some of the brass parts, but learned that their manufacture is viewed by Indonesians as a holistic entity, so he would have to purchase over 100 gongs at once. He located an outlet for rejects, or “orphans” and played a nice piece with them and marimba. Next was the Delta blues focusing on the Arkansas-Mississippi border. He befriended Cedell Davis, an elderly picker from the Delta. Born in the 20s, stricken with polio and wheelchair bound, Davis was a conduit to the original bluesmen. Davis told the story of meeting Crap House Bee, the infamous vixen who allegedly poisoned Robert Johnson. The video clip of Davis performing the classic Dust My Broom with grunge musicians was excellent. Off to Brazil where Barrett produced a young musician named Xando Reis. The record was poorly received upon release, but when Barrett returned a decade later, the music had exploded and he played multiple sold out shows to promote. Back in the US, Barrett went for an ethnomusicology advanced degree at UCLA. His mentor was a Native American professor from Alaska. She dispatched Barrett and recording gear to the Amazon rain forest in Peru to record indigenous shamans. He played mbira (thumb piano) to a video backdrop of a shaman ceremony. The next adventure came courtesy of original Nirvana guitarist turned green beret. Barrett embarked on a 1000 mile sailing race from Seattle to the Northwest Territory. While they didn’t win, Barrett was able spend time with pods of whales and recorded their “songs”. In Alaska, with his mentor ,they immersed themselves in Native American music that was rich in fiddle that stemmed from British and Scottish explorers. Why limit yourself to planet earth? Barrett hooked up with Hubbell telescope scientists to soundtrack clips of far off galaxies. The performance was excellent, imagine Anthony Bourdain with drums. The series looks to be broadcast on Vevo and promises to be a fascinating musical travelogue.
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