Born Under
Martin Zellar makes his solo debut with the Rykodisc release of BORN UNDER, an album teeming with the rugged passion that defined his song-writing career with the Minneapolis-based Gear Daddies. As front-man for the rollicking, country-inspired rock band, Zellar's insightful everyman perspective and soulful, honky-tonk voice conveyed a level of emotional honesty that charmed fans and rock critics across the country. Since the Gear Daddies' break-up in 1992, Martin Zellar has been polishing his solo material at gigs in and around the Twin Cities, tempting longtime fans with the promise that his best songs loomed ahead.While BORN UNDER reflects a more mature and more varied range of experience, it rings with familiar Zellar intensity. The character-driven ballad "Problem Solved" creates a portrait of a woman with a vast and complex emptiness, depicted by Zellar with spot-light clarity.  On "Let Go," he drives past the same Midwest landscapes that shaped his earlier work, but now they evoke a wisdom only living can bring:  "And the cornfield seems to breathe/...Let go of the things you can't control."  In the album's first single, "Lie To Me," Zellar's character relishes a rare moment of happiness: though he realizes it may be fleeting, he is willing to be conned for just one flash of unfiltered joy.The introspective songwriting on BORN UNDER is matched verse for verse by Zellar's poignant delivery. With a raspy, confident singing voice, he seems to drag the lyrics from deep within. His core band, consisting of ex-Gear Daddy Nick Ciola (bass), Jon Duncan (organ), Adam Levy (guitar) and Noah Levy (drums), is joined by guest cellist Kent Musser (Rex Daisy) and vocalist Kristen Mooney (Peter Himmelman).  A cast of other Midwest musical luminaries contribute performances, including current and former Jayhawks drummers, Tim O'Reagan and Ken Callahan.The masterful album doesn't just pick up where Zellar left off with the Gear Daddies, but finds him a few years down the road -- older and wiser and with a little more living under his belt.  Martin Zellar communicates the universal ambivalence and passion, hope and despair, of everyday life, and he accomplishes this with raw elegance and well-worn grace.