Hangout

Singer-songwriter Vicci Martinez talks about the word “manifesting” and the virtues of purple mashed potatoes.

It’s a few minutes before six on a beautiful summer evening when I step into Asado, the Argentinean-inspired grill on Sixth Avenue, for dinner with Vicci Martinez. I’ve invited the twenty-four-year-old singer/songwriter to hang out, and this is her chosen spot. In addition to an interview, she’s agreed to let me take photos — which means I’m hauling a load of gear. My early arrival gives me a chance to stow my bags and settle in.

As I study the menu and consider the merits of a margarita or a mojito, a tap on my shoulder catches me off guard. I yelp, sounding regrettably like a nervous poodle. “Sheesh, you sure scare easily,” chuckles Martinez.

Photo by Virginia Bunker

Under normal circumstances I’d stand up to greet her, but the table is pushed back, wedging me snugly in place. Martinez smiles down, though not that far down, at me. Her stage presence is big, but at ground level she’s a petite five-foot-one. Earlier, she’d joked about getting dressed up, but I’m happy to see she’s characteristically casual and makeup-free. After all, it’s that “down to earth” factor that is so intrinsic to her charm. Tonight she is wearing a lavender T-shirt, cotton pants and flip-flops with a striped Guatemalan scarf around her neck.

Rumor has it that Tacoma’s beloved hometown girl is moving to San Francisco.

Before addressing the rumors, Martinez takes a seat and we focus on priorities. “They have this French beer that I really like: 1664 Kronenbourg,” she says in sync with the waitress’s arrival. And she swears by the “Lomillo” hanger steak with purple mashed potatoes. I follow her lead on the steak, but with a side of polenta and a “Madre Rita.”
“So what’d you do today?” Martinez asks. “Mostly listened to your music,” I reply, explaining how I’ve enjoyed more than a few of her shows, but am less familiar with her discography. Her latest CD, From the Outside In, was recorded locally at Pacific Studios and released in March. It’s a mix of folk, rock, blues, gospel and reggae, and the majority of the tracks originated in live sessions in the studio with Martinez and her band. “The band and I really like to jam,” she says. And right now it’s that spontaneous live sound that she wants people to hear because she is “manifesting” a tour. Manifesting. It’s a word that comes up more than once.

Martinez says the concept ties in to her belief that “if you really want to do something, you can — but you’ve got to stick with it and work hard.” Her prodigious recordings are proof of her commitment.

While diverse in style, From the Outside In has an engaging narrative thread from the first bluesy track to the closing ballad. It’s a journey of love, loss and heartbreak and a search for what’s real. While these themes have turned up on earlier recordings, this album is the work of an artist coming into her own.
Martinez talks about the challenges she has faced. A few years ago she lost her father to cancer. I tell her that some of her pain is tangible in her tracks and that those are among the most beautiful. “Well, pain definitely makes you grow,” she says.

Today, Martinez swears the present couldn’t be brighter and she’s the happiest she has ever been. She’s free of her former manager, a big gun in the music industry who was pushing her in a direction that wasn’t her style. Though her dad was never officially her manager, Martinez says that he encouraged her musical dreams ever since she was playing the violin as a little girl, singing in the middle school choir and recording her first CD.

“Don’t compromise what you feel. Be yourself! That’s what my dad always said,” she recalls. Her father also imagined his daughter would be involved in many aspects of the business — including writing for other musicians and producing. Now that vision is coming true.

Martinez is hesitant to make statements about certain deals before they are solidified, but she sounds upbeat about “crazy doors that are opening,” including an upcoming performance on a cruise in the Caribbean and a credit as co-writer for a song from the film Hannah Free, a dramatic feature that premiered in San Francisco’s Frameline Film Festival. She’s also collaborating with MLK Ballet and composing music for a contemporary seven-dance work for MOVE! to accompany choreography by Kate Monthy. There will be a November fundraiser performance and a CD, with half of the proceeds going to MLK Ballet.

As Martinez relates her plans, an exuberant Latin trumpet solo is playing in the background. The peppy number has little in common with her earthy style, but it sparks my memory of “Ganar Tu Amor,” a track with Spanish lyrics on Sleep to Dream, recorded when Martinez was a teenager. Have people ever tried to mold her into a Mexican American pop star? “Oh, yeah,” she says with a mischievous grin. “But, dude, the funny thing is, I don’t even speak Spanish! Though one of my goals is to live in Puerto Vallarta for six months and learn the language.” She sounds determined, leaving little room for doubt: future travel and fluency in Spanish is something Vicci Martinez will manifest. But first, her tour — and, oh yeah, that move to San Francisco. “Most likely in the winter,” she says. ’s a few minutes before six on a beautiful summer evening when I step into Asado, the Argentinean-inspired grill on Sixth Avenue, for dinner with Vicci Martinez. I’ve invited the twenty-four-year-old singer/songwriter to hang out, and this is her chosen spot. In addition to an interview, she’s agreed to let me take photos — which means I’m hauling a load of gear. My early arrival gives me a chance to stow my bags and settle in.

As I study the menu and consider the merits of a margarita or a mojito, a tap on my shoulder catches me off guard. I yelp, sounding regrettably like a nervous poodle. “Sheesh, you sure scare easily,” chuckles Martinez.

Under normal circumstances I’d stand up to greet her, but the table is pushed back, wedging me snugly in place. Martinez smiles down, though not that far down, at me. Her stage presence is big, but at ground level she’s a petite five-foot-one. Earlier, she’d joked about getting dressed up, but I’m happy to see she’s characteristically casual and makeup-free. After all, it’s that “down to earth” factor that is so intrinsic to her charm. Tonight she is wearing a lavender T-shirt, cotton pants and flip-flops with a striped Guatemalan scarf around her neck.

Rumor has it that Tacoma’s beloved hometown girl is moving to San Francisco.

Before addressing the rumors, Martinez takes a seat and we focus on priorities. “They have this French beer that I really like: 1664 Kronenbourg,” she says in sync with the waitress’s arrival. And she swears by the “Lomillo” hanger steak with purple mashed potatoes. I follow her lead on the steak, but with a side of polenta and a “Madre Rita.”
“So what’d you do today?” Martinez asks. “Mostly listened to your music,” I reply, explaining how I’ve enjoyed more than a few of her shows, but am less familiar with her discography. Her latest CD, From the Outside In, was recorded locally at Pacific Studios and released in March. It’s a mix of folk, rock, blues, gospel and reggae, and the majority of the tracks originated in live sessions in the studio with Martinez and her band. “The band and I really like to jam,” she says. And right now it’s that spontaneous live sound that she wants people to hear because she is “manifesting” a tour. Manifesting. It’s a word that comes up more than once.

Martinez says the concept ties in to her belief that “if you really want to do something, you can — but you’ve got to stick with it and work hard.” Her prodigious recordings are proof of her commitment.

While diverse in style, From the Outside In has an engaging narrative thread from the first bluesy track to the closing ballad. It’s a journey of love, loss and heartbreak and a search for what’s real. While these themes have turned up on earlier recordings, this album is the work of an artist coming into her own.

Martinez talks about the challenges she has faced. A few years ago she lost her father to cancer. I tell her that some of her pain is tangible in her tracks and that those are among the most beautiful. “Well, pain definitely makes you grow,” she says.

Today, Martinez swears the present couldn’t be brighter and she’s the happiest she has ever been. She’s free of her former manager, a big gun in the music industry who was pushing her in a direction that wasn’t her style. Though her dad was never officially her manager, Martinez says that he encouraged her musical dreams ever since she was playing the violin as a little girl, singing in the middle school choir and recording her first CD.

“Don’t compromise what you feel. Be yourself! That’s what my dad always said,” she recalls. Her father also imagined his daughter would be involved in many aspects of the business — including writing for other musicians and producing. Now that vision is coming true.

Martinez is hesitant to make statements about certain deals before they are solidified, but she sounds upbeat about “crazy doors that are opening,” including an upcoming performance on a cruise in the Caribbean and a credit as co-writer for a song from the film Hannah Free, a dramatic feature that premiered in San Francisco’s Frameline Film Festival. She’s also collaborating with MLK Ballet and composing music for a contemporary seven-dance work for MOVE! to accompany choreography by Kate Monthy. There will be a November fundraiser performance and a CD, with half of the proceeds going to MLK Ballet.

As Martinez relates her plans, an exuberant Latin trumpet solo is playing in the background. The peppy number has little in common with her earthy style, but it sparks my memory of “Ganar Tu Amor,” a track with Spanish lyrics on Sleep to Dream, recorded when Martinez was a teenager. Have people ever tried to mold her into a Mexican American pop star? “Oh, yeah,” she says with a mischievous grin. “But, dude, the funny thing is, I don’t even speak Spanish! Though one of my goals is to live in Puerto Vallarta for six months and learn the language.” She sounds determined, leaving little room for doubt: future travel and fluency in Spanish is something Vicci Martinez will manifest. But first, her tour — and, oh yeah, that move to San Francisco. “Most likely in the winter,” she says.

Asado

2810 6th Ave., Tacoma, WA 98406
Reservations: 253.272.7770