Portland, Oregon singer-songwriter Jeffrey Martin has unveiled plans for his first-ever live album, Alive July 25, 2025, due for release on February 20, 2026, via Fluff & Gravy Records. The record, a document of a single Portland show, arrives just a month before Martin makes his Australian debut, bringing his distinctive folk sound to stages across the country for the very first time.
Recorded at Portland’s The Showdown, Alive July 25, 2025 captures the evening exactly as it unfolded, unedited and unfiltered. Martin said, “The live show will always mean more to me than any studio recordings. Every night is different and will never exist again. The character of the room, the energy of the crowd, the moments between songs, wherever my mind and heart and voice are at – it all mixes together to create something new and ephemeral each night. I wanted to capture a single show, no edits, no reordering of songs, no compiling of takes from multiple shows. A record of a night in a documentary sense. I was so lucky to have Sam Weber join me on guitar. The best recordings are the ones where you forget you are recording, and Sam’s brilliant playing made me forget entirely.”
Weber, known for work with Madison Cunningham, Bahamas, and Anna Tivel, not only played alongside Martin but also recorded and mixed the album. Mastering was completed by Jon Neufeld. The 16-track album includes songs spanning Martin’s sixteen-year recording career, a cover of Neil Young’s Out On The Weekend, and a new track titled 1519.
The lead single from the live album is Martin’s intimate rendition of Out On The Weekend. Reflecting on the song, Martin explained, “I’m really drawn to his notion that joy is a thing that can feel hard to relate to. Like it’s something you observe in other people’s lives, but not yours. He’s got this girl, he’s got this love, he’s got this work he’s doing – but all of it just kinda drags him around and maybe he feels discontented and unseen and lonely more often than not. There’s a whole gut full of feelings we can all relate to. Plus the song just sounds timelessly cool. Those dry drums and that bass thumping and then Young comes in all high and lonesome. It’s killer and hasn’t aged a bit since 1972.”
“Out on the Weekend” is the opening track of Neil Young’s 1972 album Harvest, showcasing a reflective country ballad style. Backed by the Stray Gators, the song features Ben Keith’s pedal steel guitar, which critics have praised for its “blue-sky purity” and emotional resonance. The music carries a “searching, yearning melody” that mirrors the lyrical themes of longing and emotional ambivalence.
Lyrically, the song follows a man escaping the pressures of the city while reflecting on past joys and the challenges of connecting with others. Young contrasts comforting imagery, such as a lover “so fine she is on [his] mind,” with melancholy lines describing a “lonely boy” unable to relate to happiness. Young himself acknowledged this tension, explaining that the song conveys deep happiness in a manner that can sound sorrowful. The track, along with Harvest and Heart of Gold, was inspired by Young’s romantic relationship with actress Carrie Snodgress.
Critics have highlighted the song’s effortless hook and subtle craftsmanship, with Johnny Rogan noting its opening line as a prime example of Young’s “laid-back star-weariness.” While some, like Rolling Stone’s John Mendelsohn, critiqued the Stray Gators’ performance, others praised the blend of Young’s garage-band energy with Nashville professionalism. The song has also influenced later artists, including Lady Gaga, who covered a verse in her track “Fooled Me Again, Honest Eyes.”
Martin is also releasing 1519 as a single ahead of the album. “It’s a song apart from all of my others,” he said. “After reading Buddy Levy’s book Conquistador, I wanted to crawl inside the mind of Hernán Cortés. From his own letters he seemed blindly certain that his mission, no matter how brutal to the people he met in the Americas, was righteous. It made me wonder what we are blind to today that future historians might look back on in disbelief and disgust. 1519 is an attempt to place myself on the boat, to stand next to Cortés, to feel him as a man instead of some unreachable, towering, historical figure.”
Australian Debut
In March 2026, Martin will make his Australian live debut, performing at the Port Fairy Folk Festival, Blue Mountains Music Festival, and shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Brisbane. Australian audiences will also see him joined by fellow musician Matthew Colin on selected shows.
Tour Dates:
March 6-9: Port Fairy Folk Festival, Port Fairy, VIC
March 11: George Lane, St Kilda, VIC*
March 12: Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC*
March 13: Factory Floor, Sydney, NSW*
March 14-15: Blue Mountains Music Festival, Blue Mountains, NSW
March 17: The Ed Castle, Adelaide, SA
March 18: Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD
*with Matthew Colin
Tickets are available at lovepolice.com.au.
Jeffrey Martin follows 2023’s acclaimed LP Thank God We Left The Garden, which received high praise for its raw emotional depth. His earlier albums, One Go Around (2017) and Dogs In The Daylight (2014), established him as a compelling voice in contemporary folk. Critics have compared his work to the best of John Prine, Nathaniel Rateliff, and John Moreland, highlighting his ability to blend stark simplicity with profound emotional resonance.
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