Think of fishing boats at a dock. Imagine waves lapping at the shore. Feel sunshine on your face. Hear the seagulls screech. Then you’re ready for Mike Martell music.

A muscular fisherman with a rich, folksy voice, 53-year-old Mike, from Milltown Cross, Prince Edward Island, Canada, has released a new album, She Waits For Me, with his best recordings yet. His four decades of fishing echo in each song.

Adept as a singer/songwriter and competent on guitar, Mike wrote all 12 tracks. The best ones include: “Fisherman’s Soul”, “The Napier”, “Thoughts of September”, “Ballad of the Garden Trip”, “Love’s Hope” and “The Smelt Fisher Song”.

Built from the pine at Georgetown,
Built by a very skilled man’s hands,
The Napier’s keel lie,
Bound for grimy London town….
You know, we nearly lost it all,
To a whale of a gale.
We left the old port on a dark, dreary night.
Every man was three parts tight.
At least we knew we had a place to stay,
Be it far away.
The food on board be worse at best.
I can still see the flies in the whole-wheat bread.
The Captain gave a mighty roar,
Hard to the sou’west.
From “The Napier”, Mike Martell, 2008

For Mike, songwriting forms the bedrock. “I want to write my own stuff because I’ve spent my life on the sea, and I have a lot of ideas about what makes a great song,” he said.

The music supports Mike’s poetic lyrics, not vice-versa. His messages and delivery are deep like the ocean, soothing like gentle waves and conducive to thoughtfulness.

Mike issued two earlier albums: Ten Knots or More (2004) and The Old Man and the Tide (2002). The latter competed for album of the year at the PEI Music Awards.

Only in 2001 did Mike write his first song and begin to take music seriously. Now it’s a preoccupation.

I met the girl, the girl I would marry,
Down by the river where I did lie.
We fell in love by the oak and the heather,
In a Glenn, misty and wild.
All alone not far from home,
Blessed with God’s love that night,
She gave me her hand. Now I understand
Love will make it all right.
From “Love’s Hope”, Mike Martell, 2008

Tami (Mike’s wife) and Sophie Martell provide backup vocals, Tom Leighton plays accordion and whistle, Gaston Bernard is on mandolin and the producer Bill Garrett plays guitar.

Partly recorded in Mike’s living room, the CD was mixed at Studio Fast Forward in Montreal. In fact, the project’s weakest aspect has nothing to do with the writing or sound. Instead, it’s the cover design that disappoints. By relying on blurred images, it creates an annoying clash because there’s nothing blurred about Mike or his songs.

Mike’s gentle touch – in crafting lyrics, singing them, telling tales and strumming his guitar – makes the CD special. Anyone lucky enough to listen will wait eagerly for whatever this singing fisherman writes and records next.

For more information: www.mikemartellmusic.ca

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