With so many musicians around today, it is often difficult to discern who really cares about their music and who doesn't. For a band created by two Fairfax County school teachers, the care that they put into their music and lyrics is obvious.
THE BAND is called Martinez & Guthrie, and identifies mostly with the acoustic singer / songwriter genre — with a little bit of folk. Martinez writes the lyrics and plays the instruments, and Guthrie is on vocals. Their songs have been on XM Cafe since February, and the band was even featured on a New Artists program on XM.
"I have always been passionate about music and I've always been into writing songs," said Martinez, 31. "I've written for other people and I want to pursue a career in music.”
Martinez currently teaches sixth grade at Waples Mill Elementary School, while Guthrie is an art teacher at Glasgow Middle School. Martinez taught with one of Guthrie's friends, who eventually introduced him to Guthrie, who is a member of a band called No Better Off. Martinez plays percussion and the mandolin for the band.
"Every Friday, the guys just get together and play music," said Martinez.
"It's a Friday night thing, something just for fun," said Guthrie, 52. "It's not something we do professionally."
For Guthrie, his attraction to playing music first started when his brother Michael got a guitar for Christmas when Guthrie was 19 years old, and never played it. Guthrie eventually began to play the guitar, and he also plays the mandolin and harmonica.
"I'VE ALWAYS loved to listen to music," said Guthrie. "Joe's and my music is all original stuff."
Though Martinez writes the lyrics, he says that he likes to leave them open to interpretation so that a listener can interpret the song in a different manner than how it was intended. The music is centered around where Martinez is in his life now and what kind of music he likes.
"I don't like being hit over the head with someone else's lyrics," he said. "I want room for my own interpretation, and I love hearing what other people interpret it as."
Martinez says that a girl in Texas whose father had passed away had listened to his music and that it was helpful for her in her grieving.
"It was overwhelming to get that kind of reaction," he said. "You can hope for it, but you never really expect it to have that impact."
"When you get something good, and it feels right, and someone else is touched by it, it's great," said Guthrie. “This is Joe’s project, and I found something to get behind and make it mine.”
Martinez chose Guthrie to be the vocalist when he first heard him sing.
“I can’t sing, and when I heard Gus sing, his voice matched what I’d imagined my songs and lyrics to sound like,” he said.
XM first got wind of Martinez & Guthrie when the two of them attended Jammin’ Java, a performance venue in Vienna, where Martinez has played previously with an older band. A performer at Jammin’ Java had a friend there from XM, and Martinez was able to give him a demo CD.
“Expectations for XM were low, and we never followed up on it,” said Martinez. “Then someone emailed me on the web site and said that they’d heard some of our songs on XM, and that they were played quite a bit. Someone just listened to our music and liked it, and put it on there. It’s very overwhelming.”
When it comes to their music careers, Guthrie and Martinez have different expectations. While Martinez ultimately wants to try to make a living off of his music and collaborate with other people for projects, Guthrie is more content just to go with the flow.
“Joe’s very thorough and a perfectionist, and I’m not,” he said. “I think it’s good to have a different approach. If something takes off, you go with it. I like to play and perform and if I’m doing that, I’m happy.”
IN HIS SPARE TIME, Guthrie likes to play music and build instruments – from scratch.
“I just built a mandolin,” he said.
“Making music is very therapeutic,” said Martinez. “Life is too short and there are so many things to deal with. I was inspired by my mother to just do what you can and make the best of it, and try to turn it into something positive.”
“We wanted to make some good music, and Joe has the vision of how music comes together; he’s definitely a rhythm guy,” said Guthrie. “Anybody can record something, but for me the story is do something you like, and you have a chance of someone hearing it and liking it. You enjoy the luck if someone likes it, and get the feedback that you can.”