Bio	Ivan (the Red) Martin
		Raw Earth eXperience
Ivan ‘the Red’ Martin (lead percussion, djembe, dundun, tubanos)   A desire to make sound into music has been a life driving force. Observing my sister play polkas on her accordion made me cry out for something eclectic and something more then watching soused Germans stumble around a dance hall . Raw Earth was born out of a pursuit to improve my percussion skill. No formal music theory has driven my efforts, but I attend weekly African percussion ensembles to learn and admire the tonality of the basic human experience. Much of what we do is out of a respect for the African spirit that has formed the base of most music we have come to enjoy. I am influenced with sounds from the west African coast to the north Mississippi delta and all of the blues men and women who never lost their  African soul in their American world. Who and what I listen to does not matter, because Raw Earth runs through the canyons of your mind beating with the rhythms of your heart.   I am a philosopher by trade and honed on the radical concepts of peace, love and anti-war Marxist theory. A working class background has led me to conclude that there is far worse things in life then rolling gut barrels and growing up in a world all white. I have reached out to ensure that my spirit would not be voided by the silence of a nation consumed with the affluence of fear. Where I have come from does not really matter but where we go does.. We must go together in strength, must go together in love, must go together in peace and the madness must cease. We know we have everything we need to do better, just have to make it happen and stop the train, because we want to get off and start walking and talking. We have “earth jams’ to bring the spirit of life together. This is freedom and we play for the day for tomorrow may only be a hope, make sure yours is a good one…
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