January 5, 2022
Indigenous Artist Spotlight: Jace Martin
Ontario Presents and its member presenting organizations recognize the importance of presenting Indigenous artists, stories and culture as part of their presenting practice. As we continue to encourage the respectful presentation of Indigenous art, we will be featuring an Indigenous artist each month in our e-newsletter and blog. Our sincere thanks to Denise Bolduc for conceiving of and continuing to support this Spotlight Series.
Started in 2018, the Indigenous Artist Spotlight series is intended to foster greater awareness and understanding of the strength and diversity of Indigenous art available in Ontario and beyond. As Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists face an incredibly difficult time, we will continue to spotlight inspiring Indigenous artists.
Find all of our past Spotlight interviews here.
This month we spoke with mainstream artist & producer Jace Martin!
Please introduce yourself and your art practice to me and our readers.
My name is Jace Martin and I have been performing professionally since I was 11 years old. I started out with Salome Bey and her theatre production of “Rainboworld”. Since then, I have toured North America and shared the stage with so many legends in the music industry including Grammy Winner Jonny Lang and Rock & Roll Hall Of Famer, Robbie Robertson.
Over my career, I have won 5 Music Awards, and my song “Free to Fly” Hit #35 on The USA Billboard Top 40 Radio Charts in 2017. In 2020, I co-wrote and produced “Not Waiting Anymore” from Deanne Rose Moore and it hit #1 on Canada’s iTunes R&B Charts. My new album “Rainboworld” is available now and is dedicated to my greatest mentor in music, Salome Bey. I am also the President of The Darren Ross Agency that has worked with some of the biggest festivals in Canada and the roster includes, JUNO Award- winners, Crystal Shawanda, Derek Miller, and many more.
What concerts or fun projects do you have coming up and where can we find out more about them?
I am so excited to be going out on a “Five Shows in Five Cities” tour with some amazing artists that started on December 29th, 2021 in Waterloo, ON at The Jazz Room. On January 2nd in Hamilton at The Casbah, January 5th in Toronto at The Horseshoe, January 7th in Guelph at The Red Brick Cafe, and we’ll be ending the tour on January 9th, in London at The Old East 765 Bar & Grill. I also performed on New Year’s Eve at Harmony Square in Brantford, ON. You can follow our tour at www.darrenrossagency.com or on Facebook.
How have you and your work been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic?
My work was significantly impacted by Covid 19. We lost all of our booking and event management opportunities. But pre-Covid, we were transitioning to a more reliant income stream, publishing. Which meant that we were able to continue to move forward with music creation and promotion to global radio markets.
What do you think is your biggest motivation right now and has that changed during the course of the pandemic?
My biggest motivation is content creation. Being the president of The Darren Ross Agency I know that publishing and music creation, music videos, photos, and media content is what is needed in the future of the entertainment business. To be able to create at home without too much contact. So now, we have been developing our own at-home production studio capable of creating videos, photos, and music and we’ve had to adapt to working with our creatives remotely.
Do you have any hopes for the future as we work towards rebuilding a better performing arts sector?
I hope that there is more opportunity for all artists in the future. That is why I am so excited about creating content. Everyone is home more, so online content to entertain the world is needed now more than ever. I hope that we can get back to LIVE shows and being in person. I hope that artists can be more collaborative after the pandemic. We really do need to support each other, if we have learned anything.
Do you have anything else that you would like to say or share with our readers?
I always like to say in every interview what I have learned most importantly in life is this, “Your talent will make room for you, but your character will keep you there.”
Find Jace on: Facebook
Thank you to Jace for sharing with us!