Rev. Ernest C. Martin

Ernest C. Martin was a bluegrass and country gospel musician and evangelist from Clay City, Kentucky. Born on January 27, 1914, in Clay City, he began his career in music at an early age, playing the banjo, guitar, and banjolina, and singing in church, school dances, and pie suppers. He gained his first steady radio show in 1934 and went on to play with several popular country music acts. After a period of ill health led him to retire from music, Martin turned to God and began his career as an ordained minister. He started preaching and singing the gospel, recording his first gospel song in 1948, and later formed his own record company, Martin Records. Martin’s music and ministry spanned many years and several radio broadcasts, including “The Highway to Heaven,” which was heard on multiple stations.

A few of his Highway to Heaven radio shows are available via the Berea College Archives as well as songs that he played on the radio, which is just him and an acoustic guitar. For convenience, I wrapped them up in a zip file for you to download.

• It is Real
• If We Ever Meet Again This Side of Heaven
• One Tiny Bud
• Uncloudy Day
• My Loved Ones Are Waiting For Me
• The Heart That Was Broken For Me
• Glory Bound Train
• On the Hills Over There
• Thirty Pieces of Silver
• Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand
• Build Me a Cabin in the Corner of Gloryland
• Give Me One More Day
• Old Cross Road
• One More Day
• I Heard My Mother Call My Name in Prayer
• In the Sweet Bye and Bye
• One More Valley

Ernest Martin was a talented musician and singer, originally from Clay City, Powell County, Kentucky. In the 1930s, Martin had some success in country music on such radio stations as WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee. However, at age twenty-two, in about 1936, Martin began a career as an independent Baptist evangelist which lasted well into the 1980s. Martin traveled thousands of miles conducting church revivals and recorded radio programs of preaching and singing. These programs were broadcast on radio stations throughout central and eastern Kentucky including the cities of Corbin, Frankfort, Harrodsburg, Hazard, Mt. Sterling, and Stanton. With his sons Ernest and Vernon, Martin also made several commercial recordings in various formats including 78 rpm, 45 rpm, LP, eight-track, and cassette tapes.

• Collection: Ernest C. Martin Radio Program Collection
• https://bereaarchives.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/archival_objects/9819
• Martin, Ernest (GJ Artist Discography)
• Ernest Martin Discography | Discogs
• Ernest C. Martin Album Reviews on Slipcue
• https://gbugrb.blogspot.com/search?q=ernest+martin
• Obituary

Biography

Texts from album back covers

Highway to Heaven (1962)

IN THE HILLS of old Kentucky, a little town called Clay City in the I taking my mother from us bought. I was only three, and two other brothers older than me, Floyd and Bert, were left alone with Dad to make the best of life. Mother being a good old praying Baptist and Dad being a man of holiness, soon made me think of my future serving God. At 15 years old I gave God my heart, but drifted from God a few years later and got mixed in with the wrong crowd. Taking up music in early life was first the banjo, when neighbors would gather in at nights on the farm and listen to me sing. At the age of 16 on an old banjo I made myself, I finally traded for an old guitar, got a man to tune it up, and from there I got my first job on radio station WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee, then to stage work that led to a wild life. Poisoned on whisky three times led to loss of health with 14 blood hemorrhages in three days. Doctors said they could not help me for two reasons: One, I had gone too far; two, I had no money. But like David of old, I thought on my ways and turned to God. He took me back in His arms and healed both my soul and body, and filled my soul with joy the world could not afford, praise His name. He called me Into the work of preaching the Gospel. I have been on many radio stations throughout the land and now have a program at Radio Station WCTT in Corbin. God is blessing my work everywhere and has given me many friends. He also has given me many songs that I have written and recorded on my own MARTIN label. To home as you play these songs over, you can feel the same joy that I felt when I was inspired to write and record these songs.

Heart of Powell County, near Natural Bridge, Kentucky, one cold January day in 1914 is where I was born to a wonderful father and mother. But fate took hold of that little home.

Thanking you kindly,

BRO. MARTIN

From The Last Inauguration (1971)

I remember so well as a boy growing up in the hills of Eastern Kentucky. I used to really enjoy and look forward to going to revivals and camp meetings, we would travel many miles across mountains and creeks and down miles of rough wagon roads, riding horses or mules and sometimes walking. If the revival was far away we would start the day before, and stay all night somewhere along the way, to be there at the beginning of the service.

I remember so well how I loved to hear them sing the old hymns and gospel songs, and I, as most people who grew up in the mountains and rural areas of Ky., W. Va., and Tenn. have a deep devotional love for the old time gospel songs, and the artists who stay with the old time traditional style of singing them. It is an art that would have been lost in the schuffle of progress and modernization except for the devotion and refusal to change of a very few great artists who carried the old time style and mountain sound through the rough times, and today it has come into its own. A sound that is loved around the world.

BLUEGRASS: The only true original music of our country. One of the truly original artists of old time gospel singing is Ernest C. Martin, he has been preaching and singing the gospel throughout the midwest for more than a quarter of a century.

On the cold winter night of January 27, 1914, in a little cabin in Clay City, Ky., Ernest Clay Martin was born. He began singing and playing the guitar and banjolina in church, school dances, and pie suppers. He later learned to play the 5 string banjo. In 1934, as “Kid Martin” Ernest got his first steady radio show on WNOX, Knoxville, Tenn. In addition to his own show Ernest played on many other shows with Bill and Cliff, The Carlisle Brothers and many others who were popular at the time and went on to become giants in the world of country music. For several years Ernest followed the profession as a country singer and musician. Playing one night stands and radio shows all over the midwest. But the sleepless nights and long hard miles a country musician had to travel became to much for Ernest and because of ill health he had to retire from the music profession. But his health didn’t improve, at last Ernest turned to God for help. Ernest was saved and with the return of his health he began to work for the Lord. As an ordained minister he began to travel over the country preaching and singing the gospel.

In 1948, Ernest recorded his first gospel song, one that he wrote himself for the Rich-R-Tone Record Co., “Gabrial Blow Your Silver Trumpet”. He recorded six songs for Rich-R-Tone most of them he wrote himself. His first records were very successful, later he recorded six songs for Butler Records, which were also very successful. In 1955, he formed his own record company, Martin Records. In addition to his evangelistic work, and his recording company, Ernest has a series of radio broadcasts. The Highway to Heaven heard over many radio stations throughout Ky., Tenn., Va., W. Va., Ohio and Ind. He also has a radio program that has been on the air for 22 years on WCTT in Corbin, Ky. WANO, Pineville, Ky., and WMST, Mount Sterling, Ky.

Although, with a very busy schedule Ernest finds time to write some very fine songs of faith and praise to the Lord. Several of the songs on this LP were written by Ernest, his first, “Gabrial Blow Your Silver Trumpet”, “The River of Time”, “Matthew 28″, ‘Sunshine From Heaven”, “A Prisoner of Sin”, “White Dove of Peace”, and the title song, “The Last Inauguration”.

If you like the old time sound of gospel singing (and I’m sure you do) you will love these 12 songs of the gospel as only Rev. Ernest C. Martin can sing them.

Rev. Ernest C. and Fannie E. Martin are the proud parents of five children, four boys and one girl, who have greatly helped brother Martin in his ministry.

Rev. Jones and myself consider it an honor and privilege to add Rev. Ernest C. Martin to our roster of old time and bluegrass artists on Pine Tree Records. We know this LP of old time gospel songs will bring a blessing into many homes and we sincerely hope it may help someone turn to God.

Osburn “Ozzie” Thorpe