
DATE: Sunday, June 22, 1997                 TAG: 9706190182

SECTION: CAROLINA COAST          PAGE: 09   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: BEACH PEOPLE 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: MANTEO                            LENGTH:  131 lines

JAZZ SINGER SPENDS NIGHTS WITH FANS, DAYS WITH FAMILY

With her kids, Lucy and Josh in tow, Laura Martier winds through an obstacle course of people and picnic tables. A stranger might mistake her for just another late 20th-century version of June Cleaver - sans pearls and a Dior dress.

But within a half hour, she takes the stage.

With husband Dan behind her on drums, the 1990s mom is hard at work crooning the 1950s tunes of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.

Proud Mama becomes jazz diva.

So it is in the daily life of the musical Martier family. Laura and Dan are fixtures on the Outer Banks music scene, crossing the sometimes narrow street between jazz and rock. In the summer, they perform at least five nights a week.

But before night falls and the music starts, the Martiers are first and foremost a family.

``Everybody works a job,'' Dan Martier says. ``Our hours are different. Instead of putting our children in day care, we're home during the days. When we do go out at nights, we have a great community here. We try to trade off with child care. We have great neighbors and friends who keep our children when we work. And we try to reciprocate.''

Laura says the domestic juggling act isn't as difficult as some might think.

``You know, I think we probably have it a lot easier than most people,'' says Laura. ``Most couples have to work. And they do the 9 to 5 thing. They work all day. They're exhausted. They feed the kids and help them with homework. They have to put the kids to bed and get up the next day and do it again.

``We have all day. We can get up and get the kids to school and go back to sleep 'til noon,'' Laura says. ``Josh is 13 and Lucy's 7, so he's babysitting now. We pay him. We give Lucy a dollar. Money talks with kids.''

Not surprisingly, Josh and Lucy also are both musically inclined. Josh plays guitar in his own band - and performs original tunes he writes with his friends. Both kids also are in the cast of ``The Lost Colony'' outdoor drama on Roanoke Island this summer - which keeps them on stage as much as their parents.

Music always has provided the backdrop for Dan and Laura's life. Both offspring of musical families, the couple met in 1984 in a Memphis elevator while working for the same production company. They also worked together in one of pop music's most famous one-hit wonder bands: Spiral Staircase. That band is best known for its late-80s hit, ``I Love You More Today Than Yesterday.''

``Oh My God,'' Laura says as Dan mentions ``The S-word'' in referring to the band. ``The ultimate tacky revue. Sequined costumes - the whole bit.''

The couple has performed rock and jazz on the Outer Banks, Raleigh, Richmond and up and down the East Coast - including gigs in the Big Apple.

Now the Martiers are readying for a leap of faith. On the heels of Laura's 1996 self-titled debut disc, the couple is contemplating a move from their long-time Manteo home to Richmond. But Laura Martier bristles at some reports branding this summer her last on the Outer Banks.

``We'll always be here in some form,'' Laura says. ``We have a home here. We're not going to give that up. It's more of a logistical thing. Just to be able to get from one place to another a little bit easier. Almost every weekend I'm driving somewhere. If this place was located on I-95 it would be easier. But we have so many connections here. I was really upset when people said, `She's leaving the Outer Banks.' It's just being more open to possibilities.''

The Martiers' musical journey involves more than just a change in geography. Laura's creative road meanders back to the roots of jazz. Her album with Woody Beckner celebrated the standards crafted by legendary songwriters Sammy Cahn, Johnny Mercer and Rodgers and Hart.

``I think it's really important to understand that with jazz you have to go back and start with where it began, with the standards,'' Laura says. ``They're so complex. And they're so beautiful. I feel like it's a journey on the jazz path and you have to start at the beginning. It's an education.

``I have so much to learn,'' she added. ``I feel like eventually I'm going to go into my own creating. But I have to have a good base and a good understanding before I can go out on my own in this business.''

Laura's influences cover the musical spectrum.

``In the very, very beginning when I was a little girl, it was the Everly Brothers, Harry Belafonte, Nat King Cole and The Mamas and The Papas. Of course the Osmonds and the Jacksons. Last night, I sang the closing song to the `Donny and Marie Show.' I grew up in all that white bread music. I was totally square. I never got into heavy metal. I listened to all that smarmy stuff.''

Laura made her debut in musical theater at age 7. As part of a musical family, Laura and her four sisters performed around Mapleton, Wis.

``My Dad is a musician,'' says the now-32-year-old singer. ``He used to cart us around to company picnics. We were the guitar mass at St. Catherine's.''

Laura also learned a bit of country.

``The only song I remember was `Satin Sheets,''' she says. ``I can see myself sitting on our kitchen table having my Dad teach me that song when I was about 8. I did a jazz show in Nashville in February and I was cruising downtown. And they have all these bars and guitar players and they're these old crusty guys singing and drinking Budweiser. And I went onto one and asked, `Do you know `Satin Sheets?' And then I sang it. It was fun. Nashville is so full of music.''

Like his wife, Dan Martier also says he's still expanding his repertoire.

``We're still finding ourselves musically,'' Dan says. ``I feel like I'm a late bloomer. At 36, I feel like a kid when I play. But I haven't peaked yet. As far as those people who are young and have made it, I admire that. They know what they want. I have some ideas. But I haven't peaked yet.''

As for the pending move, Dan Martier admits that there may be tradeoffs.

``The reason we're moving is to be more in the mainstream of working with more people,'' Dan says. ``There's a handful of great players here, like Mick Vaughan and Joe Mapp. We need more people to work with. I see myself doing more studio work, doing more writing and doing more soundtrack work. I've dabbled in that. It's supply and demand. And we have to be where there's a demand for it.''

After all the hard day's nights of performing, all the smoky clubs and boisterous crowds, the Martiers return to home and family - sometimes as late as 3 a.m.

And even though a move may be on the horizon, their hearts will always be here. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON

Dan and Laura Martier, with their two children Josh, 12, and Lucy,

7. Not surprisingly, both the Martier children are musically

inclined, he plays in his own band performing tunes he and his

friends write. Both are also part of ``The Lost Colony'' cast.

Graphic

HOW TO HEAR HER

Jazz singer Laura Martier performs with a variety of back-up band

combinations on the Outer Banks. This week, she will appear at:

Millie's Diner in Nags Head on Sunday

Rundown Cafe in Kitty Hawk on Monday

Sanderling Inn in Duck on Tuesday