Martin Tielli Singer

Martin Tielli's instantly recognizable melodic howl and signature ethereal guitar playing, adored by fans and critics across North America, have made him a fixture in the record collections of the self-professed cognoscenti, no doubt to his own ambivalent approval. He is perhaps best known as a member of the Rheostatics, the only band besides the Guess Who with two albums ranked in the top ten in a recent survey of music critics to determine Canada’s top-100 rock records. The Rheostatics released eleven albums from 1987 to 2007, including the celebrated Melville and Whale Music. They were inspired by such national icons as Stompin’ Tom Connors, novelist Paul Quarrington, the Group of Seven, CBC’s late-lamented late-night Nightlines, a gnomish steel-guitar player in southern Ontario, hockey player Wendell Clark, Gordon Lightfoot and more. “The modus operandi of the Rheostatics is that you can be a complete buffoon one minute and then say something profound the next,” says Martin.

The Rheostatics were nominated for a Juno Award for their work on their 10th album, Night of the Shooting Stars, and Martin himself was nominated for his design and illustration of the Rheostatics children’s album, Harmelodia. Martin was also honoured by the Ontario Arts Council via the prestigious KM Hunter Award for Music in 2002. He has composed soundtracks for movies and television, as a solo artist and with the Rheostatics, including music for the motion picture Whale Music, starring another Canadian enigma, Maury Chaykin.

In 1996, under the name Nick Buzz, Martin released the highly acclaimed Circo, which united him with musical idols Jon Goldsmith, Hugh Marsh and Rob Piltch. In 2001, Martin recorded We Didn’t Even Suspect That He Was The Poppy Salesman, a simple recording of acoustic guitar and voice produced by long-time collaborator Michael Phillip-Wojewoda and released by Six Shooter Records. His next solo album, Operation Infinite Joy, produced by Goldsmith, takes a step forward from the gentle acoustics of Poppy Salesman to a full throttle musical adventure that ranges from the in-your-face to the sublime, offering moments of ethereal beauty alongside screaming epic rock pieces. Martin describes this album as falling somewhere in between “making Queen look tame” and “confusing people even more.” For the past five years, Martin has been working on a two-album opus entitled "The Ghost of Danny Gross", which represents an artistic journey that began when Martin was a teenager.

Martin may be Italian born, but the Northern Lights, nickel smelters, black spruce, Canadian shield, long cold roads and other features of our unique northern landscape have infused his soul with Canadian magic. Those who know, know they are lucky.

www.martintielli.ca

2010/11 Concerts
Korngold: Source & Inspiration | Abbey Road