TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Country Singer Comes Home To Wal-Mart

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 20, 2007

PORT RICHEY - Daniel Lee Martin is on his way to you today, right there at the local Wal-Mart.

On a promotional tour for his second CD, 'On My Way To You,' the country singer will give a free acoustical performance at noon and then meet and greet his fans.

The first leg of Martin's 'Wal-Mart In-Store Tour' hit Florida on Tuesday with an evening stop in Titusville before moving on to St. Cloud, Zephyrhills (Thursday), Plant City (Friday) and the supercenter at U.S. 19 and Ridge Road.

Florida was the first place he wanted to visit on his promotional swing so he could personally thank his family, friends and the community for their support, Martin, who grew up in New Port Richey, said in a news release.

For fans who miss him today, Martin will be back next month to headline the 2007 Hudson Seafest. In its 23rd year, the festival, Nov. 9-11, highlights entertainment from in and around the Tampa Bay area.

Martin will take the stage at 8 p.m. Nov. 10 at Seafest's site off State Road 52 and U.S. 19 next to the USA Fleamarket.

With more than 25,000 people expected, Seafest is one of the largest outdoor music festivals in Florida. For details, visit www.hudsonseafest.com.

Martin also will be busy taping the second season of his cable TV program, 'Backstage & Backroads With Daniel Lee Martin,' which offers concert footage, a behind-the-scenes look at the music industry, and hunting, fishing and performing with celebrity friends. The new batch of shows is set to begin airing March 31 on The Sportsman Channel.

Bright House Networks doesn't carry the channel, but it's available for a fee online at www.thesportsmanchannel .com. For the show, visit www.backstageandbackroads .com.

Martin's musical dream began unfolding in March 1996 when the advertising executive was appointed as marketing director for the Chasco Fiesta. Weeks before the popular country concert that wraps up the festival, organizers realized they hadn't booked an opening act.

Why not hire Daniel Lee Martin? someone suggested. Although he had never performed in front of anyone except family, he warmed up a crowd of about 5,000 before headliners Bryan White and Lee Roy Parnell took the stage.

'I could have said no and gone on with my life, but I had prayed for an opportunity like that since I was a child,' he says on his Web site, www. danielleemartin.com. 'I put it in God's hands, and he delivered like he has so many times in my life. This was an opportunity of a lifetime.'

Martin moved to Nashville in June 1997, leaving behind his 12-year-old advertising agency. After a couple of years, he realized he didn't fit the usual record label mold and didn't want to be told what to wear, what to sing, how to act and who to hang out with.

'Your success in advertising is based on the quality of product you put forth, plain and simple,' he says on the Web site. 'You develop a great ad campaign, and you're on top of the world.

'But in the music business, you can create amazing music and you could still be four to five years away from a deal, airplay or distribution and that's the cold hard truth.'

So he created his own marketing campaign.

In 2002, with aid from Todd Stottlemyre, who pitched for 14 years in Major League Baseball, ChinMusic Records was formed. Scraping by on a no-frills budget by doing the graphics, photography and Web site in-house, the group released his first CD, 'All That I Am,' in March 2004.

To promote the CD, Martin turned to a once traditional new-artist venue: the Wal-Mart tour. Over 20 months, Martin performed at more than 300 Wal-Mart stores across the country, an accomplishment documented in the book, 'I Don't Need a Record Deal! Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution.'

His latest CD, 'On My Way To You,' features 15 cuts.

'I've always said I would rather have persistence than talent,' he says on the Web site. 'I know there's a bunch of folks out there who would agree with me wholeheartedly and that's great. I believe it's persistence that got me here and as long as I remain consistent with persistence, I'm here to stay.'

For more on the label, visit www.chinmusicrecords.com.

Compiled by Annette Mardis

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT