Martha Scanlan profile picture

Martha Scanlan

The West Was Burning

About Me

The haunting quality of Martha Scanlan's voice, unique perspective and poetic imagery of her songs helped to gain national acclaim for the innovative old-time stringband, Reeltime Travelers. In their six years of touring they played some of America's most prestigious venues and festivals from the Grand Old Opry to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
After catching the attention of Grammy-winning producers T-Bone Burnett and Bob Neuwirth, the group recorded a cut for the soundrack to Cold Mountain and were featured on the Great High Mountain Tour along with Alison Krauss, Ralph Stanley, and other artists from the Oh Brother Where Art Thou and Cold Mountain soundtracks.
Martha's songwriting frst gained national attention in 2003 at the prestigious Merlefest Chris Austin Songwriting Contest where a panel of judges including Gillian Welch and Jim Lauderdale awarded her first and second place in the bluegrass and country music categories for "Little Bird of Heaven" and "Hallelujah".
She is currently on tour with brothers Travis and Trevor Stuart, who are widely considered among the best of Western North Carolina's new generation of Appalachian musicians. Their deep roots in tradition and remarkable ability to lend that depth to new sounds creates an extraordinary sense of timelessness; a perfect compliment to songs rooted in tradition but reflective of an ever-changing cultural landscape.
Martha's debut solo project is produced by and features Dirk Powell along with Levon Helm, Riley Baugus, and Amy Helm and Glenn Patscha from the band Ollabelle. It is due out February 13, 2007 on Sugar Hill Records. When not on the road she divides her time between the mountains of East Tennessee and those of Western Montana.
Reviews:
Acoustic Guitar
Roots Music Project
Pop Matters
Anchorage Daily News


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Member Since: 4/18/2006
Band Website: marthascanlan.com
Band Members: Martha Scanlan (guitar, vocals)Travis Stuart (old time banjo, bass, guitar)Trevor Stuart (fiddle, mandolin)With a variety of special guests: Rose Sinclair on steel, banjo and accordion, Amy Helm on drums and mandolin, Glenn Patscha on Piano, Dirk Powell on everything...
Sounds Like:



Record Label: Sugar Hill Records
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

pics, shows, videos

Hey if you have any pictures, live show recordings or videos of the band that you'd like to share, we're looking to post them...we'll credit you and reserve a place for you in honky tonk heaven....Ple...
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:55:00 PST

NORTHWEST DIRK POWELL SHOWS!

Hey folks,Just got back from an awesome Alaska tour with most of Ollabelle, which was a blast! I'll be in the Northwest next week to play some shows with the Dirk Powell Band, along with the amazing ...
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:34:00 PST

LA, Joshua Tree, and Southwest Tour

Hey Folks,We're gearing up for a fun tour this week with our friend Rose Sinclair joining us on steel, banjo and accordion...should be a blast!We're working on a small house concert in the LA area thi...
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:06:00 PST

Mountain Stage, October 14

Martha, The Stuart Brothers,and Rose Sinclair will be playing Mountain Stage on October 14th. The show will be taped live then aired at a later date, we'll post it here....
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:45:00 PST

Fall Residency in NYC

Martha will be appearing at Banjo Jim's on Manhattan's lower East Side for two more dates:Oct. 5th with multi-instrumentalist Rose Sinclair (from the Heartbeats and Girl Howdy)7:30-9:00Oct 11th with t...
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:12:00 PST

August West Coast Tour

Y'all, we are West Coast bound!We'll be playing at the world famous Freight and Salvage in Berkely on Wednesday, August 1st, The Palms in Davis, CA on Thurs. the 2ndThen we head up to Portland for one...
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Fri, 27 Jul 2007 01:38:00 PST

Red Rocking Chair - Live At The Outpost

The song Red Rocking Chair (with members of Ollabelle) was recorded live at the Albuquerque Outpost in 2006.
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:41:00 PST

Martha Scanlan on the Bob Edwards Show Mon. April 9

Martha will be featured on the Bob Edwards Show this Monday, April 9th, to talk about The West Was Burning.  The show is on XM satelite radio and airs at 8am Eastern Time. Encore times: 7am (prev...
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Sat, 07 Apr 2007 03:20:00 PST

East to West, *Wild* Special Guests et al

Friends!Hey we just finished up a wonderful tour on the East Coast with Travis and Trevor Stuart and Amy Helm playing drums and mandolin and singing- it was a blast! Thanks to everyone who came out!W...
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 03:50:00 PST

CD available at marthascanlan.com

The West Was Burning is now available at marthascanlan.comThanks to everyone who has worked to make this possible....see you out on the road!
Posted by Martha Scanlan on Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:11:00 PST