A longtime figure in the Sacramento music scene has passed away.

Blues musician and radio DJ Mick Martin died over the weekend at the age of 76. Local music station K-ZAP, which hosted his blues program, posted the news of his passing Sunday night, calling Martin, “... the irreplaceable soul behind 'Mick Martin's Blues Party.'"

Martin was also a feature of CapRadio’s music station, hosting “Mick Martin’s Blues Party” from 1991 until 2023. 

Martin’s band, The Blues Rockers, toured for 40 years, including international appearances in Italy, Belgium and England. Martin was also a longtime film critic, including writing reviews for The Sacramento Union newspaper from the mid-1970s until the paper shut down in 1993.

Hours after Martin’s passing was made public, social media was flooded with remembrances by musicians, fans, colleagues and friends, highlighting the musician’s kindness, knowledge and mentorship.

CapRadio Music Program Director Gary Vercelli, K-ZAP manager Dennis Newhall and Iowa Public Radio’s Nick Brunner, CapRadio’s former Modern Music Director, sat down with Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez to remember Martin’s enduring legacy.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

Dennis, I want to start with you. K-ZAP made the announcement about Mick’s passing. When did you two first cross paths?

NEWHALL: I was eight, he was 10, and even then he was an impressive and eclectic figure. In high school, we started a lot of conversations about British Invasion music. And eventually the second wave, he was the one to turn me on to Hendrix… I believe I first heard the Hendrix album in his house. And Cream, stuff like that. That just continued because he was doing a little radio, and obviously shows, and I was doing radio… so we kept our friendship up… through so many years.

I imagine you two regularly kept in touch?

NEWHALL: Especially the last five years while I was producing the show. We kept in touch quite a bit over the years because 20 years ago, my record label… produced a record of Mick’s. So we worked with him then, but mostly it was social. It was just running into him, it was talking to him about a new movie or a new record. And then, five years ago when CapRadio decided that we should pre-record The Blues Party, we were just getting our legs under that when the pandemic hit. Suddenly, not only did we have to produce a show, we couldn't come into the studio to do it.

So, we figured that all out and over the last several years, I was producing the show, which was always fun. And then two years ago, we moved it over to K-ZAP where it started and just kept it going. We only skipped one week.

Gary, you actually brought Mick Martin's Blues Party to CapRadio in the first place. How did that happen?

VERCELLI: July 1, 1991, we launched KXJZ and we had several applications for a blues host. Mick was head and shoulders over all of them. I came to management and I said, “we got to hire this guy.” And they were reluctant. They were like, "he's in commercial radio, and he's kind of a hustler." And I'm like, "yeah, that's why we need him." And so, we started a two-hour blues show, The Blues Party. Mick was a natural-born fundraiser, and within one fund drive, management was asking me, "can we expand The Blues Party to four hours?” We had to bring in extra phones to manage all the calls that Mick generated, and he was a delight to work with.

Nick, when did you first cross paths with Mick Martin? How did he shape you in your career?

BRUNNER: I came to CapRadio in 2007. This is like 16 years after Gary had hired Mick to do the show. And of course as a 26-year-old, I thought I knew everything. I had notes on everything about this, about that, and I had notes about what Mick should be doing on the air. I should have realized that Mick was also compiling a list about, “who the hell is this kid?” He wants to steal my show, he wants to do this and that and the other.

It turns out we were just both overcaffeinated and paranoid, and we had just not enough information from the station to be able to realize we are very, very, very similar people. So in a roundabout way, when I became a supervisor in 2020, we started doing weekly calls… and immediately they just became one of my favorite parts of the week.

I mean we talked as little about “work” as possible, but he would just opine on music and philosophy, what it means to be human. He had stories. I loved the guy. I miss our calls, and we would carry over those conversations after we left the radio station as often as we could. Just the generosity of spirit and charm in that man is beyond measure.

What did Mick mean to blues in Sacramento? 

VERCELLI: Mick was an ambassador, like a walking billboard for the blues. Not only in Sacramento but he toured England, he toured Italy with The Blue Rockers. And he brought really strong journalistic skills to his presence as a broadcaster, having been a film critic for The Sacramento Union.

One of my favorite stories about Mick is, I used to take yoga lessons in the Bay Area. And a fellow said, "where are you from?" I said, "Sacramento." He goes, "oh, I drive through Sacramento on my way to Tahoe… and there's this great blues guy, Mick Martin.” I said, "Yeah, I know. I'm his boss." And he said, "You know Mick Martin?" And I said, "yeah, this station also has NPR news and it has 100 hours of jazz." And he goes, "But you KNOW Mick Martin?”

Dennis, you knew Mick for so long. Give us a glimpse into the footprint he left in Sacramento, and how he touched the local music scene?

NEWHALL: He started out in high school. I forget the name of some of the bands… there was The Mick, there was Joshua, which was a big kind of psychedelic blues band for a long time… I mean, he was always doing something different, trying to find what would gel.

It was finally The Blues Rockers that gave him something to hang his hat on for years and years and years. And everybody saw Mick. Everybody knew him. Now, maybe you didn't like him and only went once, but a lot of people went every time they could. And I will say, two of the high points in his career: one was playing harmonica with Jimmy Smith at Carnegie Hall, and the other one was last month. He said after his birthday party, he always liked to throw a birthday concert… that was probably the best show he'd ever been in charge of.

Tell us a little bit about that performance, that Jimmy Smith Song that featured Mick Martin?

VERCELLI: One thing I'll say about it is, Jimmy was very selective in who he invited to perform with him. And not only did Mick tour with him and play at Carnegie Hall, but on a subsequent recording at Fantasy Studios he requested that Mick come down and this was the track they played together.

Regarding Mick’s early psych band, Joshua, we’re going to listen to a song from that band called “The Fist.” Tell us about this piece.

BRUNNER: I was talking with Mick… maybe like six to eight weeks ago, just on one of our random calls. He had told me that he had just gotten the rights back from the previous rights holders, and now he was able to kind of do whatever he wanted to do with the music of Joshua.

Now, naturally… as you’re thinking about your friend who's passed on, these things just sort of come to mind. I realized I hadn't heard anything by Joshua, so I would seek it out. I was just blown away. It's unmistakably Mick. This is circa 1969. He was always such a huge fan of [artists] like John Mayall and Eric Clapton… and this stands, I think, shoulder-to-shoulder with both of those performers.