CBC Radio One

I had the most pleasant surprise last week when I found out that Jon Martin and Lovers' song Here Right Now was featured on CBC Radio One's Key of A on January 16, 2021. Extra special thanks to guest host Celeigh Cardinal for including us and the kind of words.

I also found out that the song was played a few other times on Radio One, including during the Homestretch and the Eye Opener. It has been a goal of mine to have my music play on CBC One, and his is the first time (I know of) where that has actually happened. All the gratitude!



Check out the recorded version of the Key of A episode:
CBC Key of A January 16, 2020

"Bluebird" live at the National Music Centre

We’re taking part in what turned out to be a pretty neat thing put on by Canadian Music Week. Five bands were selected from eight major regions across Canada, and everyone made videos at a pretty cool studio in their area (we did ours at the National Music Centre in YYC).

The videos have all been put together and are being released as a web series in a couple weeks. Ours will be up October 14 at 7:00 MST.

Like most people, I’m not really a fan of internet voting things (which this unfortunately is) but I do have to commend the folks at CMW and
Jim Beam for treating all the artists really well and fairly. This includes not making bands sign over any unneeded rights, giving everyone full ownership and control of the materials they paid to produce for the competition, and making all the logistical aspects run smoothly—especially given the current challenges of working in enclosed spaces with other humans. 👏👏👏

We hope that when the video comes out on the 14th, you’ll give it a watch and listen.
🍣💫🌈


'Loss Leader"

I recently mixed and mastered a great EP by Brenna Lowrie called "Loss Leader". A collection of terrific and thoughtful songs, the album is having quite a bit of success on the provincial and national Earshot charts. At the time of writing, it's hit number 1 on the CKUA charts and is sitting at number 15 on the national charts. It's always great to be able to get my hands on a great project, and even better when I see it getting the recognition it deserves!

New studio live video: 'Anyway to Love'

We got together last weekend and went to the studio to record a brand new live video for a brand new JMAL song: 'Anyway to Love'. I wanted to try something a little different with the video, and this was the result.

Thanks to Andrew Martin and Bailey Kate for helping out running the cameras!


New Weather Machine, moving forward

Initially, I started The New Weather Machine as a project/group/band/outlet to work on songs that I didn’t feel like I could elsewhere; it was a banner to perform under and a place where music could live. Under that banner, I played (what feels like) a boat load of shows with a bunch of great people, recorded a ton of music, released a small fraction of that music, and eventually figured out what the “sound” of the band was.

One thing I have always struggled with is having a broad-spectrum of interests. I like a lot of things, and, given the time or opportunity, I will try and do, make, or read just about anything interesting. Unfortunately, I am usually only able to pursue one in every fifty awesome things, as I perpetually run into the ever-present barrier of time or energy. Over the past few years, I’ve expanded what I’ve been doing musically quite a bit. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot more experimental electro-acoustic work and had the work performed at crazy places like Burning Man; I started a new band, Jon Martin and Lovers (JMAL); I’ve been figuring out how to make pop music; I’ve been sorting out how to do write better orchestral pieces; and I bought a crappy (but real) piano and am determined AF to play a keyboard instrument at least as well as John Lennon did with the Beatles in 1965 at Shea Stadium (see: “I’m Down – Live at Shea Stadium”).

On the whole, one of the most difficult parts of making music lately has been figuring out where it goes and if or how I can release it—especially when it doesn’t seem to fit in an outlet I already have. I feel like this has greatly restricted me from being able to pursue some of things I want to do because I have been (irrationally?) worried about round blocks fitting in square holes. This has perhaps been most prevalent with NWM, and definitely what led to the creation of JMAL.

So, after a lot of though, I’ve decided that The New Weather Machine will be no more. I will be shedding that skin and moving forward, at least for now, under my own name. JMAL will still exist—we are working on a record that I am really excited about, but other than that, all of the weird electro-acoustic shit, rock things, pop things, demo-y, noisy things, folky things, piano-y things, and experimental things, will be released and performed under ‘Jon Martin’.

I have a lot of things in the pipe that I am excited to share with you in the coming months.

The New Weather Machine Facebook page has been changed, and is now called Jon Martin Music.

Thank you to everyone who came to a show, bought a record, listened to a song, or otherwise supported NWM throughout its lifespan of the last decade or so.