One grew up in Hattiesburg, Miss., the son of a Swampers session musician named Jane Walker, who sang and played piano for Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. The other is the brother of Fred Martin, the pianist for London folk revival legends Pyewackett, who grew up playing with Richard Thompson and Fairport Convention in the 1960s.
Together, they are Ike & Martin.
“We basically drink cocktails and mess with people,” says multi-instrumentalist Mississippian Ike Marr. “We have a request line that works from cell phones. You can choose 600 to 700 songs we have online. Just touch the song you want to hear it. It shows up right on our iPads on stage.”
The long-time Tahoe staples effortlessly twist songs you know into implausible jams that leave audiences laughing, dancing and crying at the same time.
“Martin [Shears] and I like to have a really good time musically,” says Marr. “We’ve played for almost 25 years together and I think we speak the musical language with each other so well that we can pull it off. It’s fun and funny for us to do that and I think that translates to the listeners.”
Marr cut his musical teeth jamming with early 1990s Mississippi alt-country outfit, Birdy, a group that included a young Pat Sansone of Wilco and Glen Graham, the original drummer for Blind Melon.
When Marr moved to Tempe, Ariz., he auditioned on bass for Fred Martin’s neo-new-wave band, Curious Walk.
“We immediately played a few shows with They Might Be Giants, Material Issue, Michael Penn,” says Marr. “Then he fired me almost as quickly as he hired me. The old bass player came back and he didn’t know that I was a utility player as far as fiddle, mandolin, guitar and whatnot.”
So instead, Marr and Martin, who goes by stage name Martin Shears, formed a new band called The Scones.
“We only played coffee houses,” says Marr. “Martin was a bakery chef so we’d play these late-night coffee-shop shows and he’d show up in his chef whites covered in flour.”
The Scones found a fanbase touring America and Europe for several years before breaking up. Marr moved to Telluride, Colo., to work in the restaurant business.
“Every off season, I’d go to Phoenix or he’d come up to mountains to make records together,” says Marr.
The duo relocated to San Diego where they fell in with a vibrant 1990s music community of up-and-coming roots bands such as Nickel Creek and Switchfoot.
Ike & Martin will perform with Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek and Lynn Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket at the upcoming “For The Sender” Concert in Genoa, Nev., on Sept. 8. A vision of San Diego artist Alex Woodard, the sold-out event sends all its proceeds to Team Red, White and Blue veterans Waves of Valor surf camp at Zuma Beach in Malibu.
They’ll follow this up with three Tahoe concerts and a headlining slot at the 99th Candy Dance Faire in Genoa.
“I think at this point we kind of made a deal with each other that we’re only going to do this if it’s fun and we can play music that, first of all, entertains us,” says Marr. “The whole idea is to not take it too seriously and keep it kind of light.”
After all, the next greatest hit is always only just a tap away.
Thursday nights | 8 p.m. | Riva Grill | South Lake Tahoe
Sept. 8 | 5 p.m. | For the Sender Concert | Genoa, Nev.
Sept. 12 | 7:30 p.m. | Alibi Ale Works | Truckee
Sept. 19 | 7 p.m. | Jake’s on the Lake | Tahoe City
Sept. 29 | 4 p.m. | Candy Dance Faire | Genoa
“Our fans know by now, it’s kind of part of the act that we bring people into the show,” says Marr. “It’s all about being personable. People really want some type of connection with the artist and this really does it.” | ikeandmartin.com
