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He started playing guitar when he was 16/17 and put his first un-named band together with a group of friends, but they were only playing for fun. As he got older, he began to take playing more seriously and in 1976 when he was 19/20, he formed a 5-piece soft rock band called Indiscreet. Paul was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Michael Mosley was on lead guitar and Andy Moser on drums with Gary Lynch on keys and Phil Armitage on bass.  Gary had a lot of experience in the business and had already recorded several albums of original songs. Paul still considers this band to be first rate.
When Paul’s family moved house and had Sky installed, Paul started watching Country Music Television (CMT) and quickly realised how much he liked the music and considers CMT to be his first introduction to modern Country music. He quickly knew it was Country music he wanted to play. He phoned the boys in the band and told them where he wanted to go with the band. “they all thought I was mad” he told me. Like many people they thought Country music was Johnny Cash and Billie Jo Spears and didn’t realise how it had progressed in recent years. Paul now knew he would have to put together a new band to pursue his dream. He left Indiscreet and the band folded.
While he was finding suitable musicians he started singing solo in CMCs in 1994 for a short time. At the end of one gig he was approached by drummer Alan Biggins who suggested they should set up a band together. He is a very good drummer who taught his son Peter how to play and Peter is now the drummer with Level 42. Paul put a few ads out but had already seen a couple of potential band members. One of these was the bass player who was in a traditional Country band. Having seen him a couple of times, Paul approached him and told him about the new project and asked if he would like to come on board; he jumped at the opportunity. By now the band had a name Red Rock County and they started getting a few gigs in 1995.  They did a few gigs with John Brady on pedal steel guitar but that didn’t work out but then Paul found lead guitarist Neil David who he considered to be one of the best guitarists on the Country circuit. Red Rock County now had a settled 4-piece lineup comprising Paul Martin (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Neil David (lead guitar and vocals), Paul Alexander (bass) and Alan Biggins – stage name Alan West (drums). The band took off very quickly. Dave Anderson (Black Cat) offered to be their manager and they accepted. Lyn Jones of Chelsea Artists also offered to manage them and they ended up moving to Chelsea for a while. With Chelsea, their recorded a studio album called Tequila Nights. Although only ever a semi-pro band they quickly became very busy and toured extensively all over the UK. They worked with a number of touring US artists including Billy Yates (who has written numerous hits for artists such as George Strait), Joni Harms and Heather Myles who they performed with several times at the Ayr Festival.  They also recorded a live album at Billington Festival in 2004.
Ray and Eileen Harvey who runs HH Promotions (Linedance holiday breaks) wanted to send them to the States to record an album there. They had previously sent Glen Mitchell to the US and he has never come back and still lives in Nashville. This never happened and was to be the first of several missed opportunities for Paul. 
As Paul was maintaining his day job as an engineer while touring with the band this invariably led to a deterioration of his health. In 2005 Red Rock were due to perform at the Ayr Festival again but Paul got ill. He was worn out and decided he needed to take a break from the band after 11 years on the road. The band carried on as a 4-piece with Neil David as lead vocalist but they folded after a year.   
After leaving Redrock, Paul had some time away from singing for a little over a year but once you’ve got the bug you can’t get away from it and he wanted to come back and in 2006 he came back as a soloist. On one occasion, Alan Watkiss who presented a Country programme on BBC Radio Sheffield and who Paul knew from his time in Redrock, came to see him. Alan was also a good keyboard player and was looking for people to join a new band he was putting together. Paul told him he had just quit one band and wasn’t yet ready to go into another band at that time. So he said ‘no’ but they did keep in touch.
When he was playing a gig in London, someone approached him and offered him work in Benidorm with two nights in a hotel, all expenses paid. It was almost like a paid holiday and he really enjoyed his first overseas gig. Shortly after returning from Benidorm he heard from Dave Anderson who had sent a New Zealand promoter and radio presenter some of his solo albums which had been played on Radio Dannevirke.  Listeners started phoning in and asked Max McFarland (The Snowman), one of the country’s top radio presenters, to get Paul to New Zealand for a tour. He asked if he was prepared to go out for six weeks all expenses paid. Paul was keen to go and approached his firm but they weren’t happy about giving him the time off so this was a once in a lifetime opportunity missed. Although disappointed, he continued working as a soloist for a while although eventually he came off the road in 2017.
In May 2019 Paul felt it was time to play in a band again and he and Alan Watkiss decided to form a new 6-piece Paul Martin Band.  The lineup was Paul Martin (lead vocals and lead guitar, Alan Moulding (lead guitar), Paul Alexander (bass), Alan Watkiss (keys) and Ady Brown (drums).   The quality of musicianship and tight harmonies was the solid feature of their lives shows.  They didn’t last long as a 6 piece and following the departure of Paul Alexander and Ady Brown they became a 5 piece and were now known as Paul Martin and Blueridge with Alan Moulding switching from lead to bass guitar. The new lineup was Paul Martin (lead vocals and lead guitar), Pete Felters (lead guitar), Alan Watkiss (keys), Alan Moulding (bass) and Graham Clare (drums)
No sooner had this new lineup got established, after playing a few gigs Graham Clare decided to retire from playing and Pete Felters also decided to leave.  By this time it was getting more difficult for a band to get club bookings so rather than find new musicians they decided to carry on as a trio. They became Blueridge and comprised Paul Martin (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Alan Watkiss (keys and vocals) and Alan Moulding (bass). Paul now considers they are one of the tightest bands on the Country circuit. They rehearse every Wednesday and although work is steady bookings are building up for 2026 and Paul sees a bright future for the band. 
Shortly after the trio started he was contacted by Dominic Pisani who is the highly respected associate producer of The Voice. Sylvia McMaster had sent him some of Paul’s solo CDs and he wanted to know if was prepared to go on the show. Paul hates that kind of programme and despite pressure from his family to ‘go for it’ he turned down the opportunity to appear so perhaps another career opportunity missed but this times through Paul’s choosing although he does consider the offer was “quite flattering”.
Paul still really enjoys singing and plans to keep doing it as long as he can. He is just as happy working with a traditional country audience or a line dance audience and has a good repertoire for all types of music and dancing. He considers his main influences are The Eagles, Poco and Jackson Brown. He particularly enjoys doing concert clubs like Gilly’s Traditional Country Music Club in Wakefield where the band is regularly booked.
He is currently planning a new project with Neil David, the guitarist from Red Rock. Plans are in the early stages so he is unsure at the moment if it will be a duo or something larger.
Over the years Paul has released 4 solo albums which are, include, Kickin’, I will Leave The Light On For You, Dreamwalking.