Martin Jaye was brought up listening to Country music. His mum always had Country music playing in the house and he was surrounded by it all the time. It was therefore probably inevitable that in later life he would still be immersed in Country music although, I doubt if he considered it a career at that early age.
When Martin used to stay with his uncle Dave as a young boy the band would rehearse upstairs at home and Martin would sit outside the room listening to them rehearsing for the next gig. Dave even had a chance to perform in the US but personal matters didn’t allow him to pursue this – the timing was wrong. Martin feels he could have done really well.
For some years they toured with Tex Withers as his backing band. Tex was born in Texas and abandoned as a baby because of his many deformities and arrived in England when he was seven. His rise in British Country music showed remarkable resilience: he was four feet tall and a hunchback with a painful history of severe spinal problems and tuberculosis. He wore western dress throughout the day as he longed to be an American Indian – his wife, known as White Fawn, dressed as his squaw and smoked a clay pipe. A good-natured man who laughed at his handicaps, Tex Withers was the long-standing compère at West London’s Nashville Room and won several awards as the Top UK Country singer. His 1973 album, The Grand Ole Opry’s Newest Star was recorded mainly in Nashville where he was championed by Hank Snow. His professional career was cut short by throat illness. Tex Withers became bankrupt and his illiteracy made work difficult. His last years were spent as a cleaner at Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath railway station. He finally found his happy hunting ground on 29 December 1986, probably aged 53, and merited an obituary in The Times
In 1976 Tex and the band were due to perform at Mervyn Conn’s Silkcut Festival at Wembley but Tex got so drunk before he was due on stage that he couldn’t stand up, let alone play so this was an opportunity lost for Young Country.
Young Country recorded a vinyl album, Especially For You, on CMI Records (CMI 4999) in 1975. It was a collection of their most requested songs which were included by ‘public demand’. The album also featured another cousin, Bob Wilford on banjo. Bob went on to join the band replacing Bob Hinkley on drums. With Ernie as their manager it was now a real family band.
Young Country was very popular even outside the Country circuit due to their musical veracity and ability, humour and personality. They stayed together 15 – 20 years and were often on the road 7 days a week. There were a lot more mid week clubs in those days.
When Young Country came off the road after a break from playing Bob formed a new band called Truckstop. This was a Kent based band and shouldn’t be confused with another Truckstop in the north of England. The band was basically a reforming of Young Country with a new drummer and Bob on lead vocals. Martin was about 13 at this time and when they rehearsed in the village hall in Charing (Kent) he used to go along to make the tea and help loading the equipment; so he became a roadie for the band. The band lineup was Bob Wilford (lead vocal and rhythm guitar), Pete Andrews (lead guitar), Mike Wilford (bass) and Gerald Chantler (drums). They all sang harmony vocals and John Wilford was still writing songs. One day, Bob suggested to Martin that he should get up and sing. He was nervous and didn’t really want to but agreed to try. Bob taught him a few guitar chords and soon had him singing in front of an audience for the first time. Although he was nervous he liked it and realised that he might be able to sing. He started singing one song with Truckstop regularly and he always got warm applause and a cheer and soon realised that he really enjoyed singing with the band.
Truckstop eventually split and Martin got married and started a family which took him away from performing for some years. In 2007 he started writing and then started performing as a solo singer using the name Martin Jay. He did acoustic open mic nights in pubs local to his Kent home and really enjoyed doing it. He recorded a demo CD album, Sitting In The Sun, which was all original songs covering various styles from easy listening through adult contemporary on into rock and pop. Martin teamed up with rock producer Nigel Cuff and one of his songs, Back To Life, was recorded by Irish band Brotherhood. Martin always preferred songwriting to performing and recorded two further CD albums Time Changes and Looking At A Page.
The songwriting was very important to him and he sent many of his songs to the major music publishers. Nothing was ever recorded by a major artist and eventually he became disillusioned and found songwriting a chore. He decided it was time to have fun and return to his Country roots. In 2010 he started working in Country clubs as Martin Jaye. As an unknown, he wrote to many clubs and artists offering to perform between sets to get established on the Country circuit. Some artists like Ray Peters, Dave Whitmore and Rick Storm were happy for him to do a spot between sets. Having established himself he approached the Country booking agents to try and get work. Sylvia McMaster (Sylvan Entertainments) gave him a spot singing one song on her Country taster at Lakeside, Frimley. It was all left to the last minute and he was only offered the spot the day before he was due on stage. He was supposed to be working the next day at his day job but he agreed to do the Lakeside taster and told his boss he was sick. He went to Lakeside and did two songs and his new Country career began there. He quickly began to get lots of work and now considers that it’s Sylvia who really launched his solo Country career.
Within a year of Lakeside, he was getting very busy so rather than keeping on his day job and using up all his holiday time he decided to give up work and become a full time musician. At that time he was more of a traditional Country singer as that’s what he had been brought up with. Dancers quickly started asking for the latest songs so, early on, he took the decision to learn the newer songs that people were asking for and that’s what he continues to do today. Now he considers himself to be a line dance artist rather than a traditional Country artist but he still loves the old songs and lists his main Country influences as Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings and George Strait. He really enjoys any gigs he gets in traditional Country and Western clubs.
“As long as I can stand and sing I will keep going” he told me. He likes modern Country because most of it is still true to its Country roots of storytelling.
During the period that Martin was on the acoustic circuit he wrote all his own material and still considers himself to be a songwriter and loves writing. Although as a Country artist he sings covers he has continued writing, but now Country songs and he’s in the process of putting an album of original songs together. Each of his 3 solo albums has at least one original song. His first album was Country Routes in 2015 followed by Just Country in 2017. His latest album Troubadour released in 2020 includes two originals, This Highway and Wasted Time. He has also remastered and rereleased his Time Changes album which is available on Spotify and Amazon Music but it is now credited to Martin Jaye. He has his own recording studio and produces the albums himself. With the renewed popularity of vinyl he would like to release a vinyl album.
Martin has now teamed up with Kelly Cobbett and they do a live show called Hayride Jamboree. They haven’t done many shows yet as they are both busy and they are trying to fit it round other bookings. Kelly is one half of Roots and Wings duo and Michael Cobbett does the sound. It’s a show about some of artists who helped develop Country music in the southern United States from the 1920s onwards. Martin opens the show as Hank Williams and Kelly opens as Patsy Cline. They then sing a duet together before there’s a change of outfit and a change of artist. Through the show Martin performs as Jim Reeves, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Don Williams while Kelly performs as Tammy Wynette, Billie Jo Spears, Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle. It’s a great show for partner dancers, a great show for listeners and lovers of Country music. They are happy to take the show to clubs if clubs want to book them. With several changes of outfits and use of a projection screen this really is a show for lovers of Country music. There’s already a CD and they would like to release it on vinyl.
Research by Nick Catford.