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Has the Martian Acres "habitat" expanded?

That's a great question. A new, highly regarded and anticipated international music magazine for and about the music of independent contemporary blues artists all around the world was released in late 2007. It’s called: Blues Rocks The World, and it’s available for free download here (select Issue 1). The initial installment of the new magazine features Martian Acres in a four-page spread beginning on page 30. It's an exceptionally well-written and designed bi-monthly, and we were proud and humbled to be included in that premier edition. If you've ever listened to Paul Bondarovski's "Midnight Special Blues Radio" on the Internet, then you know that Paul's magazine would do a good job of "capturing the blues in black and white."

At long last, our music is starting to catch on beyond the confines of Boulder and Colorado. Thanks to the net, we are getting feedback from far beyond the Mountain Time Zone. One of our blues originals, for example, was selected by the listeners of Midnight Blues Radio (in Paris) as one of 2007's best. And late last year, our anti-war anthem, "War (We’ve All Been Here Before)," became one of the most downloaded songs in Australia!

Let’s see, that paragraph covers about half the globe, doesn’t it?

Then, in the spring of 2008, the new Martian Acres' tune "Missing You" topped the national charts in the Acoustic category for the OurStage Competition (some of the folks that bring you Bonnaroo every year). Now, Bonnaroo may only be in Tennessee ("due due east of Memphis, a hundred miles off of Beale"); but, take our word for it: Bonnaroo casts a ten time-zone shadow.

But, are there any changes in material?

Boy, you're loaded with good questions. Of course, many of our fans have already picked up one or both of our CDs (available on CDBaby, as well as I-Tunes and Amazon). These CDs are: "Middle of the Night" (2003) and "From Waltz to War" (2006).

BUT (!) keep in mind that we are regularly rotating new material on this website (go to the player on the first page), and that this new material can be downloaded and passed freely to friends and family. (Trust us: if someone beats down your door or sues you for improper downloads of music, it'll be someone else's music, and sure as hell will NOT be Martian Acres. We want our music out there, come hell or high water, regardless of the types of vehicles needed to do the job.)

OK. Let's see. Have there been any killer articles written about you guys?

Funny you should ask.  In fact, the answer is Yes. We received a glowing write-up this summer at the influential Los Angeles music site known as "RARwriter." Lots of pics and features about the background and personalities and music of Martian Acres. Check it out at: http://www.rarwriter.com/Feature_Wanebo_16.htm

We found it fascinating to look at our lyrical and musical content of our music as seen through the "RARwriter" prism. Here’s how they summed it up:

One can hardly consider the image of the extraterrestrial ship hovering over the Flatirons above Boulder, on the cover of Martian Acres' debut LP (Middle of the Night), without considering Dennis Wanebo's own "alien abduction" story. The ultimate irony, in this story filled with irony and "witchy" potions and deep questions about a range of "western values," is that this kidnapping of the life of an innately independent soul led to a full-circle resolution satisfying in its outcome (like all "outcomes," still in play). Dennis Wanebo, with the support of his extraordinary family and friends, has emerged from his weird encounter with mortality to triumph at being the thing he was all along: himself - quirky, astute, instinctual, deep, and extraordinarily musical.

Songs he has written with Bob Story for two Martian Acres LPs (Middle of the Night, From Waltz to War) have won songwriting contests (John Lennon) and found their way onto a range of international playlists...

Bob Story channels George Harrison with some of the tastiest slide licks you will hear anywhere, and Beatles fans will enjoy the apparent influences. Fans of Bob Dylan and Neil Young will find pleasing homage, and fans of They Might Be Giants won't be disappointed, either. Classic country fans even find joy in Martian Acres.

...and if you want to learn the backstory behing the "alien abduction" reference, then you’re just going to have to bite the bullet and read the original review.

A bit of earlier history, for the Martian Acres history buffs...

Road to Hell off of the second Martian Acres CD, From Waltz to War, was picked as a finalist in the Gospel/Inspirational category for the John Lennon Songwriting Competition (Session II 2005). There’s a bit of a "back story" here as well. It seems that Barry Gibb, of the Bee Gees, was a judge and helped pick that song! Dennis and Bob were huge fans of the early Bee Gees (I mean, we’re talkin’ the late sixties, early seventies) and their tune, Got to Get A Message To You. Of course, after that, it was Disco City for those guys and the less said the better... Click here to watch a version of Road to Hell recorded live with Lisa Bell.

In total, to date, we have received three John Lennon Songwriting Awards in the Country and Gospel Categories. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten around to submitting anything during the past three years. Time to get off our asses, eh?

That said, we have enough exciting new material to just about fill that all-important third CD.

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