Martin Marks releases new single

On Aug 19, singer, songwriter, and teacher Martin Marks, music director at The Niwot Gig (https://theniwotgig.com/), released his new music video and single, "All The Dad She Has."

Working with producer Chris Laney, who lives in Sweden, Marks has been coordinating the mastering and mixing of the single long-distance. Laney, a childhood friend and fellow musician, reached out to Marks after hearing an audiobook recording of a podcast Marks produced. The podcast charts Marks' adventures in America, and Laney, who has won two Swedish Grammys, was excited to produce the material.

The new single "comes from the feeling of being a father," Marks said, "and trying to struggle with being a good father and then reaching for great, and then sometimes not getting all the way." Marks' daughter, Odette, is featured on the recording.

Marks observed what he calls the "general vibe" of fathers he has met, and his desire to encapsulate a specific feeling. "When marriages don't work out, at my daughter's age now, I see a lot of her friends have divorced parents and I feel the dads' feeling of missing his daughter, what that is to go through," Marks said.

"And so I think I was just trying to capture that- the feeling of a dad who wants to be a good dad for his daughter. We have our struggles like any dad and daughter, so I was just trying to capture the feeling of a dad trying to do right for his daughter and stay in a good relationship with her. I could visualize being separated and what that would feel like with my daughter, and how much I would miss her. And I could imagine telling myself, 'Don't look sad,' and trying to turn things around. And that's what I'm trying to capture.

"I find that the times have changed, and I think a lot of men that I know are more traditional in their thinking and more simple, simple family values, and so are getting questioned. We have to think differently or talk differently and act a little differently than we're used to. And I'm finding that we get in trouble with our daughters or our wives. The wife says, 'He has this path to go down.' There's a tiny pothole, and he will step in that pothole. And I feel like this is a great dude that you're talking about, and so even for the best of hearts or the best of intentions, times are different, and this is a finding our way maybe."

The music video for "All the Dad She Has" was shot by Will Blair and Michael Knuckey at the Knaus Farm just west of Niwot, where community members recently gathered with Alison Steele, Seth Steele, and other members of the Steele family for a memorial service in honor of Bert Steele. Marks had booked the Farm before Bert Steele's passing, and during the shooting, Marks said, "Of course I got all teary-eyed." The single also features Alison Steele's husband Peter Kraft on drums.

Marks moved to Niwot with his wife and daughter seven years ago. He wrote and recorded an album with his daughter, Odette, in 2020, when she was ten years old. Odette is now at a great age to be in her first band, according to her father. The experience with his daughter inspired Marks to open a music school in Niwot, called The Niwot Gig (https://theniwotgig.com/) in 2022, a new venture that allows him to share his love of music with children and adults.

The single is available from all the major streaming services, and the video can be viewed on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF04hk9LqdU.