Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Charlotte Martin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Charlotte, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I grew up with parents who were both professional gigging musicians, as well as both music teachers but in different sectors. My dad taught collegiate woodwind for 53 years where I went to school and played the tenor sax out in a professional jazz band. My mom had a degree in voice and piano from Southern Illinois University and taught choir and K-12 music for 12 years in Oregon before she met my dad. She met my dad in 1975 playing her gig in a piano bar she had every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. She would perform covers etc. My dad’s boss (The Dean of the music department at Eastern Illinois University) took him to watch my mom sing and he fell for her immediately. Then my mom as invited to see my dad play English Horn in the New World Symphony (he was featured in the student college orchestra) and she fell for him after hearing him play! So I was born singing and could play piano by ear at the age of 3. Bach two part inventions by ear at 4 years old, and then started studying classical voice and piano lessons several times a week in my little town of Charleston Illinois. We were an art town back in the day. Even my music education in elementary school, middle school and high school was LEAGUES better than some of the normal programs that I have seen. Some schools are doing fantastic with it, it really depends on the community’s support because it’s clear, the public schools have no money for the arts.

I always thought I was going to teach opera. I actually thought, I would go have a modest performing career as an opera singer in Europe once I got my masters degree, then I would eventually get my PHD and follow in the footsteps of my daddy, Joseph Martin, and teach college for the remainder of my music career. But I grew up singing all kinds of music, lots of music theater, christian music, obviously opera, some pop and big band…but my focus was opera because it was incredibly hard, and I was told over and over I was incredibly good at it. So naturally, between the skill, applause and thrill of it, opera and being an opera singer was the main focus of my life from the age of 9-21.

I was auditioning for graduate schools in the already in the Fall of 1998 because I was due to graduate in 1999. I had a scholarship to a prestigious music school with a STELLAR opera program – Indiana University in Bloomington. I was so intimidated. I couldn’t even believe they wanted to pay me to go…not a full ride though. I had a full ride to my current college, Eastern Illinois University and didn’t have to pay for school. I sang to pay for it. I had to perform (mostly the leads) IN ALL the operas and be in 3 choirs a semester which took hours, so I had to go to school to finish my requirements.

Long story short, one of my best friends who majored in voice with me, died on New Year’s Eve. She’d committed suicide. I found out and literally went to my piano and wrote my first song Melissa which I played at her funeral when she was only 19 years old. There were 1000 people and it was my first performance of my own material. Then after that, I couldn’t shut off the writing. I blew off my Masters degree and when I graduated in 1999, I moved to Los Angeles on Labor Day. My dad encouraged me and thought I had a better chance of working as a singer being my own artist. So I moved here to become a signed pop star…singer songwriter. I was a monster piano player and wanted so badly to tour and make albums.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After 20 years in the music business, where I released 18 albums and toured the world, I decided to open my own music school. I also had a massive shift in my singing when I made the switch from singing Opera to Pop which I developed into a singing training method called The Charlotte Martin Vocal Method.

As far as I am aware, I am the only opera singer in the world or voice teacher who was trained in opera, who also had a 20 year career in the rock/pop music business…made albums, toured, and sang professionally in an ENTIRELY different singing style which hurt me at the beginning of my career because I could sound like anyone, but I had no identity. And there were things I was doing differently than I had done as an opera singer but modified a bit of my opera training and realized that many of those bel canto principals I was taught from 7-23 years old could transfer over into my rock/pop singing. So I invented exercises to “untrain” my sound from opera to music theater to my now original sound which is under my artist name…Charlotte Martin. I have decided to write a book on this process and teach my method to singers around the world in 14 countries.

We also offer a variety of other types of music classes and services. I have this song called Something Like A Hero that has always been very dear to me, and yes, I suffer from imposters syndrome but we love the something like a branding. Because I made a DVD called something like a DVD as it was a variety of things on what was called a documentary. As an artist, I like to combine a lot of what I do into my school…so we have a piano curriculum I wrote called Something Like A Piano Method which teaches musicians to play piano by EAR and CHORD CHART which is the contemporary music industry standard these days. I also teach songwriting and production. An off shoot of that is I co write with and produce a handful of my students/artists and Im about to take some of them on tour with me to the East Coast in March!

This year, I am celebrating 20 years of making albums and composing music so we are headed to many cities this spring, and I love having my artists show their stuff, we duet, it’s so much fun!

Another service we offer is tandem day to day artist management/consulting services and true artist development. Im not full of shit. I worked in this business my entire adult life. I tell musicians my opinions from my heart but at the end of it, a good song is a good song. And Im here to create real singers that don’t need autotune, and real songwriters that learn to write authentically and not be cliche, and real pianists that want to challenge their ears! We love unleveling skill here. If people want to be lazy, that’s an app a way, I always say. But it’s MUSIC…how can it be actual work????

I also teach kids around the world and am way into my kiddo curriculum where we explore rhythm, solfeggi, theory, piano, performance, songwriting, movement, harmony, and so so much more. I am so proud of my School…after all these years in music, and all the music I have made on my own, this is my heart.

I am so proud to announce I will be releasing my first projects (3 eps and an album) in the next 2023/2024 year, and they will feature co-writes with all of my songwriting students from the past 6 years. Some of them will have multiple versions as they are performers and artists on their own. Some of the songs I wrote with instrumentalists and writers who don’t wish to perform.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the process. It has to be all about the process and not the popularity. Popularity isn’t controlled. You can try, but at the end of the day we have don’t have a crystal ball. But I do know that if I can still get tremendous goosebumps from sitting down at my piano and playing for NO ONE, then I have picked the right career for myself.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I knew about gear and software! I wish I had paid attention a little it more! I am now a producer and have a recording studio in my home. I can compose and produce and program, but when something breaks, I have to call an engineer! Maybe down the line, I’ll have a teacher here who can teach me!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.charlottemartin.com
• Instagram: @charmarmusic
• Facebook: @charmarmusic
• Linkedin: @charmarmusic
• Twitter: @Charmarmusic
• Youtube: @charmarmusic
• Other: www.somethinglikeavoicelesson.com

Image Credits
skip bolen erin Russell skip bolen Lisa lombardo Charlotte martin Nick DONADIO erin Russell