Jon Martin and Lovers captures the spirit of Bittersweet Optimism through a blend of orchestral alt-Canadiana, intricate lyricism, and thoughtfully layered soundscapes. Described by Gethin Pearson (Charli XCX, Badly Drawn Boy) as “timeless capsules… whilst also feeling fresh and from your life,” Jon’s music evokes the warmth and vibrancy of a rock and roll alt-country orchestra as well as the intimacy of quiet, late-night moments spent at the piano, resonating through heartfelt storytelling and a persistent sense of hope.
An accomplished songwriter, producer, and musician, Jon’s 2022 self-produced album, "This Could Be Our Year," was recognized as one of the Edmonton Journal’s Edmonton Journal’s “10 Best Local Releases of 2022” and was selected for inclusion in the Edmonton Public Library’s Capital City Records collection in 2024. Originally from southern Alberta and now residing in Edmonton, Jon has performed extensively across Western Canada, releasing seven full-length albums, several EPs, and singles, with airplay across Canada, including on CBC Radio One.
Holding both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music and music psychology, Jon honed his record-making skills at a successful recording studio in Lethbridge, Alberta, producing and mixing records for numerous artists before relocating to Edmonton in early 2021. Today, he continues this creative work from his studio, working independently and embracing, collaborative approach first explored on "This Could Be Our Year." A car accident in late-2024 necessitated a temporary break from live performance and shifted Jon's focus to studio recording.
His newest album, "Late September Garden Party," was released May 15, 2025, and further develops his distinctive sound. The lush strings, jangly electric 12-string guitars, evocative steel guitars, electro-acoustic flourishes, and Wurlitzer electric piano on the album crafts a vivid sonic world, further solidifying Jon’s unique place in Canada’s musical landscape.
An accomplished songwriter, producer, and musician, Jon’s 2022 self-produced album, "This Could Be Our Year," was recognized as one of the Edmonton Journal’s Edmonton Journal’s “10 Best Local Releases of 2022” and was selected for inclusion in the Edmonton Public Library’s Capital City Records collection in 2024. Originally from southern Alberta and now residing in Edmonton, Jon has performed extensively across Western Canada, releasing seven full-length albums, several EPs, and singles, with airplay across Canada, including on CBC Radio One.
Holding both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music and music psychology, Jon honed his record-making skills at a successful recording studio in Lethbridge, Alberta, producing and mixing records for numerous artists before relocating to Edmonton in early 2021. Today, he continues this creative work from his studio, working independently and embracing, collaborative approach first explored on "This Could Be Our Year." A car accident in late-2024 necessitated a temporary break from live performance and shifted Jon's focus to studio recording.
His newest album, "Late September Garden Party," was released May 15, 2025, and further develops his distinctive sound. The lush strings, jangly electric 12-string guitars, evocative steel guitars, electro-acoustic flourishes, and Wurlitzer electric piano on the album crafts a vivid sonic world, further solidifying Jon’s unique place in Canada’s musical landscape.
Bluebird review - Uranium Waves
"Papaya‑coloured dawn drips onto the ear when “Bluebird” spirals from the speakers, tasting like cardamom‑kissed maple syrup on cracked ice. Jon Martin and Lovers coax indie‑folk’s familiar heartbeat into an “orchestral alt‑Americana/Canadiana” fresco: finger‑picked guitar, wistful Wurlitzer, vibraphone glints, and a string sigh imported from trans‑Atlantic comrades. The arrangement is aerated, each timbre fluttering like the titular avian over a desert road still warm with parenthood’s anticipatory ache.
Martin’s lyricism reads less as storytelling than as epistolary counsel—advice addressed to a future son camouflaged in communal wisdom. His tenor, slightly frayed at the edges, complements the song’s ethos of tender imperfection; the refrain “fly easy like a bluebird” nests immediately in memory without resorting to saccharine cliché. Yet the composition is not faultless. The self‑production, though admirably intimate, occasionally permits low‑mid haze that muffles the vibraphone sparkle, and the repeated couplet “the things I ought to” risks mantra fatigue by the third pass.
Still, the track’s emotional diode glows steadily. There is a subtle invitation to introspection—should one pilot one’s own name through life’s thermal drafts, or surrender to inherited labels? “Bluebird” neither resolves the question nor pretends to; instead it vouches for gentle autonomy, encouraging listeners to glide rather than grind.
As a lead single, the piece sketches promising cartography for the upcoming album: prairie‑wide harmonics, immigrant instrumentation, and lyrical sincerity unmarred by performative angst. It positions Martin as a curator of flamboyance. One emerges feeling subtly taller, as though postural alignment were a sonic side‑effect—an understated, welcome sorcery."
Album Review "This Could Be Our Year" Edmonton Journal
From The Edmonton Journal:
"Jon Martin is a fresh face in Edmonton’s music scene, having moved here from Lethbridge last year, but his music arrives heavily imbued with nostalgia.
This Could Be Our Year is his latest release, sprung forth from the turbulence the pandemic ripped through our lives. Martin was forced to scuttle a tour his alt-country act Jon Martin and Lovers had plotted, redirecting his energy to crafting This Could Be Our Year.
The sound Martin crafts on the album calls to mind the radio-friendly brand of alternative rock popular on radio in the early 2000s — think early Pete Yorn and Ryan Adams; solid songs that pull on classic rock roots but in a contemporary setting.
A wrist injury in 2019 forced Martin to put down the guitar and learn how to play piano, eventually spurring the nine songs on This Could Be Our Year. Recorded with musicians from around the world (a drummer from Denver, Col., bassist in New York, Rhodes pianist from Manchester and flutist from Brazil are listed on numerous songs), Martin, also listed as multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, sets down reflective lyrics to driving music.
Kicking off with the single and album highlight, Simple Things finds Martin squarely in singer-songwriter mode, reminiscing about unsent letters, his soaring vocals held firm by an anchoring piano and gorgeous guitar noodling.
Not all of This Could Be Our Year is meat-and-potatoes Americana; strings help elevate tracks Holding on for Summer and the title track, and the flute adds some welcome colour to Sleepwalking. Lesson of the Heart is an outlier with its raspy vocals and grungy guitars. Edmonton’s music community should readily welcome Martin based on the solid songs found on This Could Be Our Year.
From Ear to the Ground:
"Jon Martin – “A new drug”
-The piano on this song caught my attention right away, but truth be told the whole package is really good. Martin’s voice pulls it together nicely. The balance feels like the best of what I like about Dawes. The lyrics are – how shall I say – more relatable than I am willing to write about publicly. The emotional connection that I immediately feel listening to this is remarkable. If you’re a fan of songs that serve as a cathartic message while also ripping your heart out of your chest so you can watch it beat on the table… then give this one a spin. For fans of rock-leaning Americana that has excellent lyrics."
https://www.eartothegroundmusic.co/2022/06/03/three-outstanding-americana-tunes-in-the-alt-country-vein-sure-to-impress-listeners/