2024 Inductee

Mention the name “Paul Martin” among Nashville music industry folks and you’ll get a consistent collection of responses: “unbelievable talent,” “is there any instrument he doesn’t play?” “effortless ability.” But ask Martin about the secret to his well-rounded expertise, and you’ll get a humble answer: “God gave me an ear for music and an ability to sing and play, so I’m just doing what I love.”

Born in Winchester, Kentucky, to a plant comptroller and a housewife, Paul Martin, landed head first into a musical family. His father owned a recording studio, and he and Martin’s mother had their own country band.

Martin showed interest in music as early as 2 years old and got his first drum set at age 4. By age 8, he was the drummer in his parents’ band and playing on sessions in his dad’s studio, where he also learned to play other instruments, including guitar, piano, bass, mandolin and pedal steel. As a teenager, Martin’s musical tastes diversified; he joined a rock band and was also exposed to pop and jazz. He began writing songs that incorporated elements from all his various musical tastes. After several semesters of college, Martin decided to pursue a full-time career as a musician.

Martin quickly made a name for himself locally and got his first professional road gig in 1987 as keyboard player for rock ’n’ roll-turned-country artist Billy Joe Royal. The following year, the Lexington, Kentucky– based band Exile had lost a member and was looking for a replacement. Martin was soon hired as the group’s new lead singer, a position he held for six years.

Martin met Marty Stuart in the ’90s while touring with Exile. In later years, Martin, “AKA Apostle Paul” would go on the road with Stuart as a fill-in and eventually joined Stuart’s band, the Fabulous Superlatives, in 2008.

Martin also enjoyed performing with several other artists, including Kathy Mattea, Steve Wariner, Lorrie Morgan and the Oak Ridge Boys.

In 2015, Martin, left the Fabulous Superlatives to help his family—wife, Jamie (daughter of Oaks’ lead singer Duane Allen and his wife, Opry singer Norah Lee), and their four children: March, Kell, Texas, and Tallant — kick off their musical career, first as cover band Martin Family Circus, which morphed into the current Rockland Road.

“When I was a little boy with my parents playing in their country band, their guitar player, Dave Reffet, would leave his Gretsch Chet Atkins guitar at my dad’s studio and would encourage me to play it,” Martin fondly remembers. “It was literally the guitar I learned to play on. Seven years ago his family gave me that guitar! I never once thought while I was learning to play, that my love and obsession with music would bring me to the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and Museum today. I’m so thankful for my career and everyone that played a part in getting me here.”