Blue Pie Records Artist Marty Rigby paid his dues playing the bars of the Texas Gulf Coast. The shrimpers, bikers and refinery workers that filled the blue collar venues were his audience and his inspiration. His music is born like the blues from this spirit of dreams and survival.
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Texas is known for singer/songwriters that weave their melodies around lyrics of unforgettable presence or subtle irony. So it isn't surprising that the Lone Star State, blessed with it's share of old souls of lyrical might, would yield an unknown Don Quixote of the craft in this new release, "Life Like A Song" by Marty Rigby. Like a Norman Rockwell painting, Marty's songs are colorful and visual with a familiarity that draws you in with each listen.
Marty Rigby Bio
Blue Pie Records Artist Marty Rigby paid his dues playing the bars of the Texas Gulf Coast. The shrimpers, bikers and refinery workers that filled the blue collar venues were his audience and his inspiration. His music is born like the blues from this spirit of dreams and survival. His new release, "Life Like A Song", features some of the unsung heroes of live music in Austin, Texas playing like there's no tomorrow. Easy to listen to...Hard to forget!
Influences
I was greatly influenced by the music in my church as a child and a teenager. I found my voice as a singer/songwriter and guitar player in the church. At the same time I spent many hours practicing guitar in my room and listening to the Beatles, The Guess Who, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, ZZ Top, Santana, Joe Cocker and more. Before discovering these greats of the era I was listening to Hank Snow, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Elvis and the Ventures, records purchased by my brother and sister and my Dad. I discovered the sounds of jazz before I was twenty years old and began listening to the great jazz players of the '30's, '40's and '50's. I attended college studying classical guitar and jazz, convinced that I needed to learn my instrument of choice and expanding my knowledge of music theory and the nuance of performance. The music and lyrics of Joni Mitchell made me realize the intricate nature of words and how they could be shaped to express every emotion and visualization with verbal grace. Bob Dylan showed me the power of metaphor and Chuck Berry showed me how to rock. Bobby Blue Bland, B.B. King, Albert King and Sonny Boy Williamson showed me the groove and all of these were supported by the great musicians that were my contemporaries in the city I grew up in, Corpus Christi, Texas, where many hard working musicians lived music daily. All of this was framed by my own participation in live performance in clubs and restaurants from the age of 18 on...I continued to write songs and perform regularly while listening to all of these greats and learned how to interpret the songs of others for audiences of every size. I moved to Austin for a time in the '70's and found the Armadillo World Headquarters and attended every show possible from Shiva's Headband to Frank Zappa and all those in between. Willie and Waylon, Steve Fromholz, The Flatlanders, Jerry Jeff and more made me think about what I was writing and singing. I've been an Austinite for twenty years now and still hear new and progressive releases that make me happy to be here! To all mentioned and those that I've missed, thank you for your part in my story!