Sunyata Records & Books

26/04/2025

Hey folks, I’m happy to announce that episode #4 of our Singing Earth series is out now. You can watch it on your smart TV on the VEVO network or in the link below.

For this episode, director Tad Fettig and I went to Iceland to record the incredible singing and storytelling of Eurovision finalists “Systur” and singer-songwriter Daniel Hjalmtysson. We were also joined by British singer-songwriter Duke Garwood, and former Nirvana and Soundgarden member (and US Army Green Beret) Jason Everman. We had such a great time traveling across the Icelandic landscape while recording with these incredibly talented artists. It really is the most cinematically and musically enchanting episode we’ve made so far so I hope you enjoy it!

Love to all, Barrett

Barrett travels to Iceland with British singer-songwriter, Duke Garwood, and former Nirvana and Soundgarden guitarist, Jason Everman. There they play with a ...

04/04/2025

New Silverlites EP out now on all digital platforms.

Album · 2025 · 6 Songs

21/03/2025

The history of American music is Black music, specially music of the Mississippi Delta. It emerged in the late 1800s and every form of popular American music can trace its roots back to there: Blues, Jazz, Rock & Roll, Country, Blue Grass, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Hip Hop, and every other sub genre you can imagine. What’s remarkable about this unique history is that this music was made by African American men and women, many of whom were the children of slaves. They developed their musical art under the weight of extreme racial prejudice and political and economic oppression, yet they produced the foundation for American music as we know it today. This 3rd episode of my Singing Earth music series was directed by Tad Fettig, and it is the story of one of those original blues singers named Cedell Davis. He was born in 1926, and I had the great honor of recording 3 albums with him between 2001 and 2015. This episode contains archival footage from our recording sessions in 2015, when I brought Cedell to Seattle to record with my best musical friends: Duff McKagan, Eva Walker, Peter Buck, Ayron Jones, Mike McCready, Greg & Zakk Binns, Annie Jantzer, Jack Endino, Scott McCaughey, Skerik, Dave Carter, and Evan Flory-Barnes. It was also the last recording session I ever did with my Screaming Trees bandmate, Van Conner.

All of us musicians have a career because of the Bluesmen and Blueswomen of the American South. This is real history and real soul, and I promise, this episode will crack your heart wide open.
Love to all, Barrett Martin

Barrett produces an album for the first generation blues singer, Cedell Davis. During the studio sessions, legendary rockers stop by and up and coming musici...

28/02/2025

Hey folks, it’s interesting how Brazil is in the news lately, with a hit movie, “I’m Still Here," up for an Academy Award, and now the second episode from our Singing Earth music series. “Brazil And The Art Of Cannibalismo” (which is the way Brazilians devour and reinvent music) was directed by Tad Fettig and features me and Peter Buck of R.E.M. writing and recording songs in Brazil with superstar singer-songwriter, Nando Reis as well as the extremely talented singer, Silvia Machete .machete In between these recording sessions, we also get to interview the legendary singer, songwriter, and statesman, Gilberto Gil Mr. Gil explains to us how Brazil was facing its own dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, and they used music, film, and art to push back with the most powerful form of resistance - Joy. It was called “Tropicalia” and this is a first-person commentary by the man who invented the movement. You can watch this new episode at SingingEarthVEVO on your big screen TV, or on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQzBiHEHA7g
Other artists featured in this episode include: .reis13

17/01/2025

Hey folks, today is the launch of my new music series, "Singing Earth," which you can watch on your Internet TV on the VEVO network or on Youtube at SingingEarthVEVO. Episode 1 - "Woven Songs Of The Amazon" was filmed in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, where I and director Tad Fettig along with musical translator Dr. Lisette Garcia visited the singing Shipibo Shamans, where I did field recordings of the shaman's healing songs known as "Icaros." The shamans then asked me to bring in some of my musical friends to add their music to the Icaros and the results are truly exceptional. Joining us from studios around the world are Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron Joshua Tree legend David Catching New York percussionist Elizabeth Pupo-Walker and Cuban singer-songwriter Hector Tellz Jr. A companion album will be released in a few weeks that has 20 of these Icaro collaborations, and 100% of the proceeds goes directly to the shamans and their families. We hope you enjoy this first episode, and please help us spread the word! Love, Barrett Martin

Barrett Martin visits the singing Shipibo Shamans of the Upper Peruvian Amazon Rainforest and records their sacred healing songs known as "Icaros." Several o...

22/10/2024

It's a funny coincidence that two of the albums I've worked on over the last few years happen to be coming out at almost the same time this fall (Silverlites & Azure Window). So here's the other one, the debut solo album from Brad Laina titled, Azure Window, which just came out. I played drums, upright bass, and vibraphone on all the songs, and I helped co-produce it with Brad. It's really beautiful singing and songwriting, and I hope he puts a band together and takes it out on the road. He's based in Chicago now, so look for him around those parts. In the meantime, here is Brad Laina's debut solo album.
Love to all, Barrett Martin

Artist · 281 monthly listeners.

12/10/2024

Hi everyone, I'd like to announce a new recording project called "Silverlites," which I recorded and produced during the pandemic and is soon to be released. It started in a Nashville hotel room in 2019, where I recorded the initial acoustic guitar tracks, and it features some truly exceptional musicians: Joseph Arthur on lead vocals, Peter Buck on acoustic guitars, Rich Robinson on acoustic and electric guitars, and myself on drums, upright bass, vibraphone, and backing vocals. The first single, "Don't Go, Don't Stay" is out now on all digital platforms, and the entire album can be previewed and preordered as well. We hope you like the songs, as we spent the pandemic years doing various recording and mixing sessions, and we used a classic songwriting form, which is often forgotten in this day and age. That is, acoustic guitars (with a little electric guitar in there), with superb lead vocals, catchy backing vocals, and a soulful backbeat in the rhythm section. It's old school songwriting, just like us.
Love, Barrett Martin

Album · 2024 · 12 Songs

19/03/2024

I don't do interviews very often, but this was a very good one because the journalist, Ryan Dillon, asked me some very good questions. This is basically everything I have been doing since the break up of the Screaming Trees, over the last 25 years, including various music and film projects around the world. Thank you Ryan and Glide Magazine. -B

Some artists play music but some artists live it. They inject their passion for art into every aspect of their lives, strangling their day-to-day life

25/01/2024

OK folks, the U.K. and European shows are being booked for April and May (London and Iceland are on the itinerary!), so in the meantime, we just got a new shipment of all of our books. We're doing a special offer where any book purchase comes with a free copy of Lisette's new photo book, "Pneuma", which chronicles our travels as we filmed the first season of our Singing Earth VEVO series, which is currently being edited for release. So, if you liked my Screaming Trees book, you can now pick up any of my previous 3 books, as well as Lisette's other book, "Poderosas", which is about 12 powerful women around the world. Again, every book purchase comes with a free copy of "Pneuma" while supplies last. This is for US orders only because foreign shipping through the US Postal Service has become insanely expensive, and the customs forms we have to fill out for a single book requires a full time employee. However, all of these books are available through every book seller around the world. Thank you for your continued support of our small business, Sunyata Records and Sunyata Books, and soon to be, Sunyata Films! US orders can be made at: www.BarrettMartin.com/store

08/10/2023

Hey folks, here is the trailer for my new music series, “Singing Earth.” The first episode is about the singing Shipibo Shamans of the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, and it will be appearing soon on our new VEVO channel. My co-creator, Tad Fettig and I have been filming in North and South America for this first season, and we are slowly assembling the first episodes. I will also be showing film clips of these musical cultures at my One Man Shows around the US and Europe this fall and spring, which will be starting October 31st in Seattle. This trailer gives you a good idea of what to expect, so I hope you enjoy it! Barrett

07/09/2023

Here it is folks, the official launch of my 4th book, "The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn’t: The Story Of The Roughest, Toughest, Most Hell-Raising Band To Ever Come Out Of The Pacific Northwest, The Screaming Trees.” You can now preorder signed copies through my website link below (US orders only) and the worldwide release will be this coming November 3rd, 2023. I played drums in the Trees for longer than any other band in my career, and I wrote our story like a Greek comedy in 3 Acts. All total it contains 33 short stories that are mostly humorous true tales of the band and all the insane stuff that happened to us during the 1990s, including our short revival in 2012 with the “Last Words” album, and our almost reunion in 2015. I wrote the book as a tribute to my bandmates, especially with the passing of Mark Lanegan and Van Conner in the last couple years. Gary Lee Conner (the Trees founding guitarist) has read it and loved it, and so have several other musicians who worked with the band. Those who know me also know my sense of humor, so that’s the angle I took on the book. Because in order to tell a great story, you have to live it first, which is what the Trees did, to the fullest. Preorders can be taken in this link, and thank you! Barrett https://barrettmartin.com/store/

31/05/2023

✨Joshua Tree National Park Association presents An Evening with Barrett Martin

✨Saturday, August 5, 2023 @ Indian Cove Amphitheater in Joshua Tree National Park

✨A performance to support Joshua Tree National Park

✨One night only!

✨An extraordinary event that promises to take you on a captivating journey around the world of music. Join us for Barrett Martin's One-Man Show, featuring an enthralling combination of storytelling, film, and live musical performances by the Grammy-winning producer, author, and esteemed drummer of Screaming Trees, Mad Season, and Tuatara.

✨It is going to be another unforgettable night for a worthy cause Beneath the Desert Sky!

✨Thank you for your support. We'll see you at the show!

✨Visit the link http://www.TINYURL.COM/4J3RC6K6 to learn more about the evening and purchase tickets!