"STAN MARTIN is a quadruple threat. He writes great country songs, he sings like a real hillbilly, he plays the fire out of his telecaster and he produces everything with a radio friendly flair for detail." Billy Block -Western Beat Entertainment STAN MARTIN's "Cigarettes and Cheap Whiskey" is a solid album of what country music has been, and will always be about, and that's song's of the heart. Stan strikes a take no prisoners stance that lets you know that he likes his honky tonk to rock with songs like "(Walking on) The Wild Side of Life", "Thinking You're Wrong" and "I Got the Roadhouse Blues". Then in the next moment he gives you traditional songs of heartbreak such as "Not on Me" and "Forever Ended with You". Although Stan wears his musical influences on his sleeve, his sound is never weary or rehashed. Just listen to the Roy Orbison meets Johnny Cash influenced ballad "Don't Tell Me It's Over" or the Chris Isaak-like overtones of "Baby I'm Gone" and you know that his musical soul is as honest as they come. Stan grew up in the inner city projects of South Boston, which may be an unlikely place for a future country songwriter and guitar player to get his start, but as Stan puts it, "there isn't any difference between growing up poor in a rural setting or in the city. Poor is poor." His mother's love of Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and The Stanley Brothers, coupled with the fact the she too was a musician, fostered his love of the genre. His songwriting reflects that love and respect for a simple melody combined with honest lyrics. Stan says, "Matters of the heart are so complex and never black and white. Sure, we all fall in love, and that's great, but it's the why we fall out of love that makes poetry and songs so interesting. I think people can relate to someone's unhappiness more than they can to their happiness because the sad fact of the matter is, most people are unhappy. The day to day grind of trying to make a comfortable living or having a career that you really don't like and then throwing two people in love into the mix with different goals and ideas of what a future together means... Well, that's a recipe for a country song". Along with his songwriting ability, Stan is a great guitar player in his own right. He's equal parts Don Rich and Pete Anderson with a twist of Clarence White thrown in for good measure. Although Stan tends to keep his guitar playing to a minimum on his recorded material, it's his live guitar work where he really shines. "I guess I have a split personality when it comes to guitar playing. In the studio I serve the song, but there's something about playing live that kicks me into overdrive". Maybe his ability to take his playing up several notches during a live performance is the reason why he has received high praise from Texas guitar slinging luminaries such as Jesse Taylor and Eddie Shaver ("that's one hell of a Tele player"). Besides playing with the aforementioned Stan has performed with the following: Billy Joe Shaver, Jim Lauderdale, George Jones, Webb Wilder, Patty Loveless, Ricky Skaggs, Suzy Boguss, Michael Nesmith, Statler Brothers, Butch Hancock, Heather Myles, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Blue Rodeo, Wayne "the Train" Hancock, Mojo Nixon, Little Jimmy Dickens, Charlie Pride, Loretta Lynn, Dick Curless, Commander Cody, Carlene Carter, Junior Brown, Marty Stuart, Travis Tritt, Hank Thompson. Stan opens up a new chapter in his career by taking center stage and doing what his heroes did before him, sing about the human condition. Whether he's rocking out, playing a shuffle or singing a down and out heartbreaker, Stan is always sincere and true to himself and his music.