Mick Martin was a pioneer in popularizing blues in Sacramento “teen center” in the 1960s. “I was watching the TV show ‘Shindig’ when the Rolling Stones introduced Howlin’ Wolf to America’s teenaged audience. After that I was hooked, buying his records and anything on the Chess label, which is how I discovered Sonny Boy Williamson. He’s the man who made me want to play harmonica.”
Many years later, in 2002, Martin was picked, by Real Blues magazine of Canada as "Best West Coast Harp Player," sharing the honor with Mark Hummel. In addition, for six straight years, Real Blues has honored Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers as "Best West Coast Blues Band," a real coup considering the hard-core traditionalist attitude of its founder/editor, Andy Grigg. This is because the Blues Rockers, to paraphrase Paul Anka's contribution to Frank Sinatra's canon, have always "done it their way," concentrating on an individualistic blend of blues, soul and rock rather than yielding to the tenants of the blues purists.
       "We write and play what we feel," says Martin, of the band that also boasts guitarists Jimmy Pailer and OBD (the “Old Blues Dude”), bassist Donna Proctor and drummer Bruce Pressley, all of whom sing lead vocals. "No one can ever hope to duplicate the highly individual styles of Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, Little Walter, B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King and the other blues greats, although I can't fault other 'blues disciples' for trying. But, like the originators, we have our own sound. We believe in ‘truth in advertising.’ We’re the Blues Rockers; we play blues-based music that people of all ages can dance to. Fortunately, people seem to like it, and we have a commitment to carrying on the blues tradition."
       In their home base of Sacramento, California, the group has been cited on three occasions as the area's "Best Blues Band" by the popular-vote Sacramento Area Music Awards (SAMMIES). This led to their induction in spring of 2001 into the Hall of Fame, an honor shared by only one other blues-based group, Little Charlie and the Nightcats. "Awards and reviews are great, but the real thrill for us is playing for audiences," he says.
      The foundation for Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers was laid in 1983. “Phil Givant, the founder of the Sacramento Blues Festival, offered me a spot on Saturday. So I called up Donna Proctor and lead guitarist Wayne Smith, latter to become her husband and a renowned recording engineer. We put together a band. We played every year until the event was ended because of Mr. Givant’s declining health. All of us had been in Smith, Martin & Shaw together, which had a two-sided local radio hit, “Oh, the Road,” penned by Jim Shaw, and “Blackness of Your Thoughts” by Robbie Smith. This was followed by the Orion Express, which again gained heavy airplay with Martin’s “Hey Mama.”
Says Martin, “The band broke up after we lost all of our equipment in a fire at the Shire Road Pub in May 1977. We had just put out a self-titled LP, and it seemed like we were really on our way. I just gave up – but never lost my love for playing music.”
In 1986, Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers became a fixed band. “It was so much fun playing every year at the festival, I just couldn’t give it up again. Phil only allowed artists to play one 20-minute set, unless they were the headliner for that day. That just wasn’t enough. “Only 20 minutes a year? That was just a tease,” Martin says with a chuckle.
So the first edition of the band – Proctor, the two Smiths (unrelated), organist Mike McCormick and drummers John Pechal & Don Shultz -- was formed and released a cassette, “Rockin’ the Blues.” This configuration lasted for five years. “Robbie decided to move to Ashland, Oregon, and that meant losing half of our original material. Plus, we were tired, so all of us agreed to go our separate ways.”
In the meantime, Orion Express bass player Steve Schofer had been playing with Tim Barnes of Stoneground fame in the Fabulous Flames, which had evolved from Sacramento's version of the Blue Flames. Martin had also formed a songwriting partnership with Barnes, whose recordings of this period (1988-90) formed the basis of Martin’s first “solo” CD, “Doin’ the Backseat Boogie.” When Schofer and Barnes left the Flames to try a new direction with former Hot Tuna and Stoneground drummer Sammy Piazza, their first choice for lead singer didn't quite pan out, so they called Martin and asked him if he wanted to join forces. "I jumped at the chance.” And, in 1992, Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers was reborn.
Since that time, they've never looked back. Personnel changes were unavoidable, as players came and went. “But we’ve all remained friends,” Martin says. The toughest part of the long journey to take was losing drummer Joe Murrazzo, who died of a heart attack when the band played a dream gig, sharing the bill with the Sons of Champlin. “We all loved Joe. Steve Price of Pablo Cruise and (Fabulous Flames alumni) Jimmy Morello, an internationally known blues singer, producer and drummer, helped us carry on until Bruce Pressley became the permanent man with the sticks.”
Three tours of Europe, multiple festival appearances and a growing legion of fans have kept them going. Martin's songwriting resulted in numerous CDs: "Blues Plate Special," "Got to Play the Blues," "Blues All Night," "Live at the Sutter Street Saloon," "Winning Hand" and "Live at Rainbow Orchards (with Harvey “The Snake” Mandel)," “In One Ear,” “Blues Rock USA,” “Live at Constable Jack’s,” “One Foot in Front of the Other,” “Way Down South,” “Jumpin’ at Jack’s” and “Gambling on the Blues” on Martin’s self-owned label, Blues Rock Records in the U.S.  Plus, they recorded "Long Distance Call" for Parsifal Records (Belgium), "Good Reaction" (produced by Morello for England’s JSP Records) and their tribute to British blues, “Tip of the Hat,” for DIG Music.
Their work also has been featured on numerous anthologies, These include "Beach Music Beat" (Rounder Records, U.S.), "A Fourth Wave of Bay Area Blues" (Taxim Records, Germany), "West Coast Wailers" (Double Trouble, Holland) and "Good Times Vol. II" (Shag Music Archives). They have also contributed to the 2002, 2003 and 2004 editions of the "Blues for the Cure" CDs, benefiting breast cancer research, as well as “The Lupus Blues Project” and “The 25th Anniversary Sacramento Blues Society Sactown Metro Blues” releases.
       Since Jimmy Pailer (who just recently released “The Prophets of Freedom” on CD), OBD (whose previous band, The Blues Exciters, still have a self-titled CD in release) and Donna Proctor joined Pressley and Martin at the beginning of 2008 to return to a more blues-drenched approach, they have continually received accolades as “the best Blues Rockers band ever.” Their yearly appearances at the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee and the California State Fair will be augmented by more concert, festival and nightclub shows. "We love to play for audiences. In fact, we always say that we don't consider our supporters to be fans, but friends."
        More recently, Martin put together a 28-song, two-disc set containing highlights from his 30-plus years of recording called “Gambling on the Blues.” He says, “That title pretty much sums up our philosophy as individuals and as a band. As long as there are people who want to hear our music, we consider it a privilege to play it for them."