Tony Martino (singer)

Tony Martino

Tony Martino
Background information
Origin Chicago, Illinois, United States
Genres Pop, Rock, Acoustic
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, record producer
Instruments Guitar, Keyboard, Piano, Electro-Theremin, Programming
Years active 2004–present
Associated acts The Rarest Kind
Website www.therarestkind.com

Tony Martino is a singer-songwriter, record producer and independent record label owner from Chicago. Martino is also the primary singer/songwriter and producer for his new side-project formed in 2014, The Rarest Kind,[1] a group with a "revolving member" format in which he is the only official and permanent member. His songs have been featured in several television shows, including the "Ghost Whisperer" on CBS, MTV's "The Real World" and "Road Rules", Discovery Channel's "Dr. G: Medical Examiner" and many others. He has also received critical acclaim and other mentions in major media publications and music magazines such as the Daily Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Amplifier Magazine, and Performing Songwriter Magazine. Martino is also known for his upfront opinions on various music-related topics. He was quoted in The Wall Street Journal discussing the controversial use of Auto-Tune recording software.[2] Academy Award and Emmy Award-nominated musician, Adam Schlesinger of the pop/rock band Fountains Of Wayne, also praised Martino's music in an article in The New York Times, after randomly meeting him and being given one of his demos prior to an Ivy concert in Chicago.[3] Martino is a co-founder of Gladius Records, a Chicago independent record label.

Biography

Martino acts as the primary producer on all of his recordings and plays the majority of the instruments except for the drums. Some of the notable guest drummers and musicians on his solo recordings include Doug Corella of the Verve Pipe, Steve Gillis (formerly of the rock group Filter) and Andy Kubiszewski of Stabbing Westward and Exotic Birds. He has also co-produced some of his songs with Brit Awards-nominated record producer, Ed Buller (Suede, Pulp, etc.) [4] In 2004, Martino independently released multiple singles on the Adult Album Alternative radio format in the United States, where he gained enough airplay to be named the "Artist of the Month" for the entire AAA radio format in March 2004.[5] Between 2005-2006, Martino won or placed as a finalist in several prominent songwriting competitions in the United States, including the Billboard (Magazine) songwriting contest and Vh1's "Song of The Year Contest.[5] " In 2007, Martino was part of a very short-lived band called "The Martino Conspiracy" that briefly toured throughout 2007 and early 2008. Prior to disbanding, the band achieved national radio airplay on the Hot AC radio format, with one released single titled "Just Don't Know" charting on the top 100 airplay chart in February 2007.[6] In October 2009, Martino was selected by ASCAP as only one of only fourteen up and coming songwriters out of several hundred submissions nationally to partake in their prestigious annual Lester Sill Songwriter's Workshop.[7]

As of April 2016, Martino is in Nashville recording the debut album for a new project called "The Rarest Kind, "[1] with some of the tracks having already been mixed by renowned engineer/producer Brian Malouf (Michael Jackson, Pearl Jam, Madonna, etc.). He is also writing/producing songs for other artists.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Official Website of The Rarest Kind! | News". The Rarest Kind. 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  2. ↑ "The Battle Over Bionic Vocals". Wsj.com. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  3. ↑ Schlesinger, Adam (2005-07-03). "MUSIC - PLAYLIST - Finally, Def Leppard Without the Pretensions - NYTimes.com". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  4. ↑ "Chicago's MARTINO CONSPIRACY Embarks On Nationwide Tour @ Top40-Charts.com - Songs & Videos from 49 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 30 Countries". Top40-charts.com. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  5. 1 2 https://web.archive.org/20080905195752/http://www.myspace.com/tonymartinomusic. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved August 10, 2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ "Site Disabled - FreeServers". Shawn-m-perry.freeservers.com. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  7. ↑ "Silly Songwriters!". Ascap.com. 2009-12-15. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  8. ↑ "Music Morsels - Indie Band Spotlight 4/2007". Musicmorselsonline.com. Retrieved 2014-08-04.

External links

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