ERIC MARTIN CONTINUES TO BE TIMELESS

Eric Martin

Remember Mr. Big, the pop-rock group from the early 90s, with a series of album on Atlantic? Their “To Be With You” was an across the board smash -- a number one record in 15 countries. Another track, “Green-Tinted Sixties Mind” soon followed. They headlined countless tours and continued as a proper group until 2002, when the members (which included Billy Sheehan, Pat Torpey and Richie Kotzen) all went their separate ways. Martin released two solo albums in Japan that both became runaway hits and caught the attention of Japan’s Tak Matsumoto. Tak’s band, B’z, had sold in excess of 80 million records, and has been a popular band on the scene for 12 years. Tak wanted to put together a new band, which came to be called the Tak Matsumoto Group, which included Eric on vocals. In early 2008, Eric was approached to record a project whereby he would cover various famous ballads sung by women. The resulting album, Mr. Vocalist was released in November of 2008 and topped the charts for months. The success resulted in Mr. Vocalist 2. His new stateside release, via SONY International, is entitled Timeless: which is culled from the two Japanese-releases. It’s also being released in two versions; the first, out now contains two Xmas songs, “Happy Xmas” and the perennial favorite ‘White Christmas.” Says Martin, “I sang them with my own interpretations; I inherited these songs as a new messenger.” His take on such chestnuts as “Time After Time,” “Superstar,” “My Heart Will Go On,” and, “I Will Always Love You”, are decidedly terrific. He makes them his own. You’ll instantly remember the voice! And, in the perfect storybook ending, Mr. Big reunited in 2009 and are on their second European tour as we speak. Martin will be here soon and we’ll talk with him then.