Spent an hour or so at Junior Martin's accordion shop today, before I flew out. He was playing me some tracks off of his grandson's upcoming cd. His grandson is Joel Martin. Joel is quite an accomplished accordionist, possibly rivaling Andre Thierry in some ways. But his VOCALS were ASTOUNDING. Sounded like a Motown heavy weight. Not kidding. Joel is white, and possibly very early 20's. I was floored. Incredible. He sounded perfect. Junior also played me this demo track that Joel put together when he was 16 years old. It was eight tracks dubbed, all him, singing a capella "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Pretty impressive. When his new cd comes out, it sounds like it would be well worth getting.

He has appeared on the Swamp & Roll TV show twice I believe. The shows are archived so you can go to the website and watch them. Not only is he a great single row player, he rocks the triple too.
Killer singer.

KDCG TV link #2

Just checked the Swamp & Roll archives and no Joel Martin. So here is the next best thing. Link #2

That video doesn't really do him justice.

I felt the same way when I first heard Joel live. I was floored too! He is a phenomenal talent. Powerful voice, 1st class accordion player and his music makes you want to dance. He's got it all. He's not yet a big name, probably because he is still a young up-and-comer, it certainly isn't because anything is lacking in the music. I would but Joel right up there in the top echelon of Louisiana acts.

My wife and I took lessons from Joel for about a year, he is truly an amazing talent. I believe he is just 22 maybe 23 yrs old. He can make that 10 button sing. I just wish he would stick to cajun music but he is venturing out into his own brand of music. We wish him well in whatever he does because he has tons of talent.