Jeffrey Martin Confronts Callous Homophobia on 'Red Station Wagon' Single

Portland, Oregon artist Jeffrey Martin recently announced the release of Thank God We Left the Garden, his first new full-length since 2017's One Go Around. Available for pre-order now HERE, the 11-track set is due out November 3 via Fluff & Gravy Records (Margo Cilker, Kassi Valazza) and Loose Music in the UK/EU (Andrew Combs, Courtney Marie Andrews).

Today, he shares a gripping story of atonement and transformation, while confronting the callous homophobia that was so rampant during his youth, with new single "Red Station Wagon." Rachel Cholst of Adobe & Teardrops praises, "Martin is an ingenious lyricist and observer of life, and his evocatively-titled album speaks to a celebration of all of the rough edges that make us human."

Of the track, Martin offers, “I wanted to tell a story of transformation. Someone becoming better than they used to be, and owning the ugliness of their past. Just a few years ago derogatory homophobic language was the norm in our culture. Across the board, in movies, television, comedy, books, and so also in the language of young people everywhere, and most especially young men, to be ‘gay’ was the go to insult for anyone and any thing that was seen as weak or weird.

‘Red Station Wagon’ is rooted in a deep shared truth. It’s the story of a confession of one man to another, looking back on a crucial moment from his youth where a dear friend of his took a big risk and courageously chose to be vulnerable, only to be betrayed by him in the worst possible way…Part of any genuine atonement is the honest confession of what one did wrong, and I felt it was crucial to use the raw and hurtful language directly in the song, partly to make the narrator’s apology more sincere, and partly to call out everyone (myself included) who ever used language like that and hasn’t honestly reflected on it since.”

Folk Alley previously shared the music video for the upcoming album’s lead single “There Is a Treasure,” which features footage of Martin and fellow celebrated folk artist Anna Tivel, praising, "Sparse and cinematic, Jeffrey Martin’s new single shines a light on the intimacies and intricacies of the daily lives in which we find ourselves imbricated, whether we nod to those webs of connection or not. Martin lays down crisp guitar picking that flows in gentle waves underneath his smoothly raw vocals, creating a sonic stream that tumbles forward with tender resignation, amused wonder, and serene joy."

The title Thank God We Left the Garden is a paradoxical nod to Martin’s own spiritual conclusions, a theme that is subtly woven throughout the album. Growing up the son of a pastor, he explains, “It’s always bothered me how uptight religion gets around the messiness of our human natures, always trying to tell people they’re broken and flawed from the get-go. The only God I can imagine is one who is overjoyed with the mess.

Who revels in the edgeless mystery. I imagine hanging around with angels all day gets boring pretty fast. So maybe we got the story wrong. Maybe we were supposed to leave the Garden all along. Maybe that was the first good thing we ever did. After all, I can’t think of anything that has an ounce of meaning or dimension that doesn’t come from failure.”

Self-produced and recorded in a tiny shack on the back of Martin’s small corner lot in southeast Portland, the songs on Thank God We Left the Garden began as demos meant for a later visit to a proper studio, but became the quietly potent album itself. Beloved Portland guitarist Jon Neufeld would later mix and master the record and add electric guitar to three songs. Sticking to the same less-is-more approach, his work skillfully and subtly elevates the lyrical intention, becoming such a crucial part of the final result that Martin also credited him as a co-producer.   

Martin recalls, “There was a magic quality to the sounds I was getting in the shack with these two cheap microphones, some lucky recipe of time and place…I feel like I’ve only just learned how to sing. Like I’ve been chasing this record since my very first recordings. I wanted to really see what I could do, just my guitar and my voice and little else. I don’t think it was conscious. I think maybe it was a reaction to the pace of life these days. The churning news and entertainment and politics and violence of it all. I needed to know that even in this day and age, just a few simple ingredients still hold up.”

Martin has been steadily touring throughout North America and Europe since the 2017 release of One Go Around (heralded by No Depression as “the poetry of America”) and will embark on an extensive album release tour this November through May 2024 to perform the new songs from Thank God We Left The Garden. Please see below for full tour details with more dates still to be announced.

Jeffrey Martin On Tour:

Oct 11 — Salt Lake City, UT — The State Room (Tickets)
Oct 13 — Boulder, CO — eTown Hall (Tickets)
Oct 14 — Denver, CO — Globe Hall (Tickets)

Nov 9 — Vancouver, BC — Wise Hall & Lounge (Tickets)

Nov 10 — Seattle, WA — Tractor Tavern (Tickets)

Nov 11 — Portland, OR — Aladdin Theater (Tickets)

Dec 1 — Eugene, OR — Unity of the Valley (Tickets)

Dec 2 — Bend, OR — Volcanic Theatre Pub (Tickets)

Dec 3 — Talent, OR — The Talent Club (Tickets)

Dec 5 — Winnemucca, NV — The Martin Hotel (Tickets)

Dec 6 — Reno, NV — The Virgil (Tickets)

Dec 7 — San Francisco, CA — Bottom of the Hill (Tickets)

Dec 8 — Atascadero, CA — Bristols Cider House (Tickets)

Dec 9 — Los Angeles, CA — Zebulon (Tickets)

Dec 10 — Pioneertown, CA — Pappy & Harriet's (Tickets)

Dec 13 — San Diego, CA — The Casbah (Tickets)

Dec 14 — Costa Mesa, CA — The Wayfarer (Tickets)

Dec 15 — Ojai, CA — Ojai Deer Lodge (Tickets)

Dec 16 — Felton, CA — Felton Music Hall (Tickets)

Dec 17 — Sacramento, CA — The Starlet Room (Harlow's) (Tickets)

Feb 2 — Macon, GA — Capricorn Sound Studios (Tickets)

Feb 3 — Decatur, GA — Eddie's Attic (Tickets)

Feb 4 — Charlotte, NC — Neighborhood Theatre (Tickets)

Feb 6 — Carrboro, NC — Cat's Cradle (Back Room) (Tickets)

Feb 7 — Asheville, NC — The Grey Eagle (Tickets)

Feb 9 — Chattanooga, TN — The Woodshop (Tickets)

Feb 10 — Nashville, TN — The Basement (Tickets)

Feb 13 — Roanoke, VA — The Spot on Kirk (Tickets)

Feb 15 — Newport, KN — The Southgate House Revival (Tickets)

Feb 16 — Indianapolis, IN — Lo-Fi (Tickets)

Apr 3 — Thomas, WV — Purple Fiddle (Tickets)

Apr 5 — Washington, DC — Pie Shop (Tickets)

Apr 6 — World Cafe Live — Philadelphia, PA (Tickets)

Apr 7 — Brooklyn, NY — The Sultan Room (Tickets)

Apr 10 — Cambridge, MA — Club Passim (Tickets)

Apr 11 — Cambridge, MA — Club Passim (Tickets)

Apr 12 — Amherst, MA — The Drake (Tickets)

Apr 13 — Exeter, NH — The Word Barn (Tickets)

Apr 14 — Exeter, NH — The Word Barn (Tickets)

Apr 16 — South Burlington, VT — Higher Ground Showcase Lounge (Tickets)

Apr 17 — Galway, NY — Thec'n Bull 

Apr 18 — Providence, RI — Fete Lounge (Tickets)

May 8 — Green Bay, WI — Three Three Five (Tickets)

May 9 — Minneapolis, MN — 7th St Entry (Tickets)

May 10 — Mosinee, WI — Lamplight Sessions (Tickets)

May 11 — Milwaukee, WI — Shank Hall (Tickets)

May 12 — Chicago, IL — Schubas Tavern (Tickets)

May 15 — Columbus, OH — Rumba Cafe (Tickets)

May 16 — Lakewood, OH — Mahall's (The Roxy) (Tickets)

May 17 — Ann Arbor, MI — The Ark (Tickets)

Photo by Jen Borst

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