Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Martha Trachtenberg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Martha, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I had to stop and really think about this, and what I realized is that the base of my confidence came from my mother, who was one hell of a musician. She taught me to play piano and sang with me all the time when I was a kid. But she did not blithely hand out compliments when it came to music — you had to earn them — so when she told me that I was playing and/or singing well, I believed her, and sailed out into the world with that belief so much a part of me that I never questioned the source until I had to answer this question.
It’s a work-in-progress, though, as is overcoming a brisk case of imposter syndrome. When I’m onstage, I have tremendous confidence; I’m sure that the songs are good and that the audience is, well, mine. Within minutes of leaving the stage, I’m questioning my choice of songs, wondering if I hit all the notes properly, wincing over a muffed chord or lyric . . . I guess that what gets me back on the stage after all that is simply the pleasure I take in performing, and in making connections with the people in the room.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
In one of my lives, I’m a songwriter. My musical influences range from Bach to the Beatles with stops along the way for Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, James Taylor . . . I could spend the rest of the article listing artists whom I admire, but that’ll do for now.
Back at the dawn of time — the mid ’70s — I wound up as the guitar player for the first all-woman bluegrass band, the Buffalo Gals. I toured with them for about four years, and although I left the bluegrass world as a player, I’ve had the great good fortune to keep a foot in the door via my songs. They’ve been recorded by a number of bluegrass artists over the years, including Tony Trischka, Missy Raines, Jim Hurst, Nothin’ Fancy, Dede Wyland, and Greg Blake. My one album (yes, I still think of them as albums; I’m old . . .) is It’s About Time, which came out in 1999. I may be assembling another one this year; one every twenty-five years is reasonable. It certainly is safe from being deemed excessive. Yes. These days, I perform as a solo and with my songwriter/producer husband, Tom Griffith.
What is exciting or special about what I do . . . That’s a tough one for me. I think that what touches people about my songs is that I do my best to tell the truth in them. One of the songs that I get the most requests for is a love song written for my husband of almost 39 years, “I Choose You,” and it includes the line, “sometimes you make me crazy.” What else. I love story songs, and who doesn’t like being told a good story?
As for the other lives — I’m a freelance copy editor, seller of vintage silver jewelry under the name Lucky Six Vintage (thanks to my mother, who was an antiques dealer), and writer. I’m also a proud and lucky wife and mother, and although I’ve tucked that in at the end, those roles inform all of the above.
Oddly enough, I don’t have my own website, but I’m on Facebook and there are plenty of video clips on YouTube, including lots of songs from my days with the trio The Folk Goddesses.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I’m sorely tempted to say that I owe almost everything to luck and leave it at that. I swear that isn’t the usual reflex deflection of compliments or false modesty; I do consider myself to be incredibly lucky. That doesn’t address the question, though. Okay then; I’ll go for two qualities and one area of knowledge. I love to learn, whether it’s a new lick on the guitar or how to recognize makers’ marks on silver or the best way to grow garlic. I do my best to openly appreciate other people and what they do, whether it’s a musician or someone behind the counter at a business. Having grown up reading almost constantly (there were no other children on my street when I was growing up, so books were my first friends), I acquired a variety of language skills without being aware of it, which served me well in school and in my copyediting and writing career.
When it comes to advice, the first thing that came to mind is to work on the skills that will be required for the career you desire. I took piano, guitar, and voice lessons, so when gigs became available, I was ready to go (not that the learning was over; far from it!). Also — virtually every job will teach you a skill that will come in handy later, even if the gig has nothing to do with your ultimate goal. I worked at an advertising/PR firm for a couple years and learned to write copy to suit an assignment, plus basic accounting skills that come in handy for my jewelry business and at tax time. No time, no effort is wasted, even if your main lesson is that you definitely don’t want to work in that industry. Finally, to quote Oscar Hammerstein II in the musical South Pacific, “You’ve got to have a dream; if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true?” Cheers!
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
They supported me as I developed into who I am, rather than trying to mold me into who/what they expected or hoped for. Trust me; that wasn’t the norm in the ’50s. I hit the road with a bluegrass band within a week of graduating from college; not quite the use of my BA that they’d anticipated. I got nothing but encouragement from them, and it was a huge gift.
Contact Info:
- Other: I can be found on Facebook and YouTube; just type in my name and voila!
Image Credits
The photo of me onstage was taken by Robert Berkowitz. The second photo, taken in a recording studio, was by Hillary Foxsong Stoforos.
