A chair in the corner. No fancy lights, and no high-tech sound system. Just a person with a guitar and a couple dozen onlookers.
Live music in Washington DC, or anywhere for that matter, can’t get much more relaxed. That’s as Jeffrey Martin prefers it. And it’s how his delicate and haunting songs might be best enjoyed.
Performing to a small but eager audience the night of April 5, the Portland, Ore.-based singer-songwriter allured Pie Shop’s first floor with an early-evening set that drew from his three studio albums, including 2023’s Thank God We Left the Garden.
Stream Thank God We Left the Garden by Jeffrey Martin on Spotify:
“I like shows this size because they’re on the verge of way too fuckin’ intimate,” said Martin, just feet from the establishment’s busy baking ovens, which were given a brief rest for this special occasion.
Before devoting himself to a career recording and performing music, Jeffrey was a passionate English teacher. After a long internal struggle and years of writing, he finally decided to follow his instincts and moved on from teaching, a duty he loved deeply.
But his pivot proved to be a fruitful one as he uses his command of emotive language and his rare intuitiveness to create powerful and heartrending songs now beloved by many.
Though he’s released only a handful of records across a decade, he’s firmly established himself as a gripping singular voice. His songs are weathered, wise and, for his listener’s, a holy place. He’s pointed in delivery but his words, especially those on his 2014 premiere Dogs In The Daylight, painfully long for a murky lost affection.
With his beard burly and his ballcap pulled down low, Martin rarely opened his eyes last Friday as he strummed his acoustic guitar and shared pure takes on numerous favorites along with tracks from the latest record — lush pieces like “Garden” and the deeply regretful “Red Station Wagon.”
Watch Jeffrey Martin perform his new song “Garden” via From One, To Tenn. on YouTube:
In the comfy confines of the Pie Shop’s ground level, he imparted profound thoughts to accompany feats like “Daylight,” providing sufficient evidence that his latest offering might be his brightest to date.
“Maybe a prayer is just putting a hopeful thing out there in front of you, to aim toward. It’s a prayer in that sense,” he said of the song.
Fans cared not about the size of the place, hooting loud and proud for the chance to see this intriguing human and to hear his stories. Folks cracked up right at the start as Jeffrey told of facing off with a DC rat in the alley out back while enjoying a pre-show smoke.
“We had a moment. I looked at him, he looked at me and then he went on his way …”
Jeffrey spoke nostalgically about his days teaching, entertaining with tales of wet-behind-the-ears students and how he’d seek to inspire their creativity with his own outside-the-box approach.
He recalled his brief, low-budget affair with stock trading, and he discussed a chess-related project by his Irish singer-songwriter friend, Mick Flannery, which inspired his own tune “Checkers,” before performing it for the room.
Martin eventually honored at least one boisterous patron’s specific request, but with a stunning take on “Sculptor,” he’d already exceeded expectations for such a simple setup.
Though this show was originally scheduled for the second-floor stage, it turned out to be the opportune scenario for Martin to present an absorbing set of music.
Revisit Jeffrey Martin’s premiere studio album, Dogs In The Daylight, via Spotify:
Below is a mix of digital color shots and handspun, home-developed and scanned 35mm film photos of Jeffrey Martin performing at Pie Shop in Washington DC the night of April 5, 2024. All pictures copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.
