Charlotte Martin

Charlotte Martin
Martin performing in 2014
Background information
Born	(1975-10-31) 31 October 1975 (age 41) Charleston, Illinois, USA
Genres	Alternative rock, piano rock, pop rock, experimental
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, fender rhodes, synthesizers, drum machine
Years active	1998–present
Labels	RCA Records Dinosaur Fight Records Echo Field Recordings Test-Drive Records
Website	CharlotteMartin.com

Charlotte Ann Martin (born October 31, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, who performs predominantly on the piano. She has written several studio albums, two of which have received mainstream commercial releases, 2004's On Your Shore and 2006's Stromata. In 2009, she released an instrumental piano album titled Piano Trees before releasing her new studio album Dancing on Needles on February 1, 2011. On February 25, 2014, she released a new studio album, Water Breaks Stone.

Martin grew up in Charleston, Illinois. She won the Miss Illinois Teen USA 1994 title on June 26, 1994 and went on to represent in the Miss Teen USA pageant broadcast live from Biloxi, Mississippi on August 16. Martin graduated from Eastern Illinois University (EIU) in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in vocal performance, majoring in opera. In 1999, Charlotte moved to Los Angeles. On September 30, 2005, she married musician/producer Ken Andrews. Their first child, Ronen Joseph Andrews, was born on May 4, 2008; their second, Stella Jean Andrews was born on March 9, 2011.

Following the birth of Ronen, Martin suffered with the nerve disorder intercostal neuralgia that left her incapacitated for the better part of a year, causing lengthy delays to the writing and recording process of her album Dancing on Needles.

Martin's father, Joseph Martin, is a music professor at Eastern Illinois University. Her mother, Becky Martin, is an administrator of a program for developmentally disabled adults.

Prior to the release of Martin's major-label debut On Your Shore, she had composed two full-length albums and two EPs. Her first foray into songwriting came in the form of Mystery, Magic & Seeds, an album Martin wrote as a result of a friend's death, which she now considers juvenilia, but is available for download from archive.org. Her second album, One Girl Army, remained unreleased, though an EP of the same name containing a few selections from the full-length album was released independently, and Martin still performs some of its content live. The masters for this record are now owned by Martin's former record label, RCA Records.