Doug Martsch (born September 16, 1969) is an American singer and musician. He is best known for his distinctive vocals and guitar playing style in the band Built to Spill.

Career

Martsch's first band was Farm Days, with Andy Capps and

Brett Nelson Brett Nelson (born 1969) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter best known as the former bassist for the indie rock band Built to Spill. In high school, Nelson played in a band called Farm Days along with Doug Martsch and ...

in the early 1980s. His second band was

Treepeople TreePeople is an educational and training environmental advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, California. The TreePeople organization advocates and works to support a sustainable urban ecosystems in the Greater Los Angeles area through e ...

, with whom he released three albums and two EPs. He has been the lead singer and guitarist of Built to Spill since 1992. With Built to Spill, he developed a reputation as a preeminent

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

guitarist; his guitar playing style blends

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, pop,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

, and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

. His influences include

J Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. ( ; born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo arti ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

Caustic Resin Caustic Resin is an American indie rock band from Boise, Idaho consisting of Brett Netson on guitar and vocals, Tom Romich Jr. on bass guitar, and James Dillion or Pat Perkins on drums. Biography Caustic Resin formed in Boise, Idaho in 1988, the ...

Mississippi Fred McDowell Fred McDowell (January 12, 1904 – July 3, 1972), known by his stage name Mississippi Fred McDowell, was an American hill country blues singer and guitar player. Career McDowell was born in Rossville, Tennessee, United States. His parents were f ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

. In 1994, Martsch formed

The Halo Benders The Halo Benders was a band formed in 1994 as a side project by Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening and Doug Martsch of Built to Spill. They released their first album, '' God Don't Make No Junk'', in 1994. They followed up in 1996 with '' Don't ...

with

Calvin Johnson Calvin Johnson Jr., (born September 29, 1985) is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the Detroit Lions. He played college football at Georgia Tech, where he twice ...

Beat Happening Beat Happening is an American indie pop band formed in Olympia, Washington in 1982. Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Bret Lunsford have been the band's continual members. Beat Happening were early leaders in the American indie pop and lo-fi mo ...

and released three albums. In 2002, Martsch released his first solo album, '' Now You Know'', to critical acclaim. In 2011, he contributed to a tribute album to

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

entitled ''Please, please, please...'' with a cover of "Reel Around The Fountain".

Personal life

Martsch is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

. He was previously married to Built to Spill co-lyricist Karena Youtz, the sister of former Built to Spill member

Ralf Youtz Ralf Youtz (born 1972) is an American musician. Youtz was the original drummer in the Boise, Idaho-based indie rock band Built to Spill. He appeared on their 1993 debut album, '' Ultimate Alternative Wavers''. Youtz was replaced by Andy Capps a ...

. They have a son, Ben.

References

External links

Ear Candy EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Doug Martsch
at SeattlePI.com, November 10, 2006
Martsch interview
at CityPages.com, September 6, 2006

on public radio program/podcast ''

The Sound of Young America ''Bullseye with Jesse Thorn'' (formerly ''The Sound of Young America'') is a public radio program and podcast based in Los Angeles, California, and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). The weekly show is currently heard on over 50 public r ...

'', June 17, 2006
"Martsch Is GOD": An Interview With Doug Martsch
at PopMatters.com, October 15, 2002

Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists American male singers K Records artists Up Records Musicians from Boise, Idaho 1969 births Built to Spill members People from Twin Falls, Idaho Guitarists from Idaho 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-rock-guitarist-stub