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Artist Bio

New York City-based independent singer/songwriter Martin Rivas had a bit of a revelation while on tour in England in the Summer of 2011.

On a day off, after a visit to an exhibition on religious artifacts in the British Museum, Martin couldn't shake the notion that we are all reliquaries to each other: "We all carry a bit of each other within us, and every interaction gives us a bit more. When we're gone, the memories that live on in those we leave behind serve as the perfect relics," says Rivas. "I needed to celebrate just how simultaneously temporary and permanent we are in sound and sentiment."

To that point, two or three songs were ready for inclusion on a new album. After returning back to New York from the UK tour, over a dozen songs came forth within a month. The reliquary notion served as the perfect creative spigot, and the results are Rivas' sixth studio album, Reliquary.

Produced by Alex Wong (Vienna Teng, Ari Hest, Ximena Sariñana, Elizabeth and the Catapult), and recorded in Martin's native city of Brooklyn, Reliquary features some mighty talented friends, including Chrissi Poland (Scissor Sisters), Bess Rogers (Ingrid Michaelson), Sierra Noble, Chris Kuffner (Ingrid Michaelson), Elliot Jacobson (Ingrid Michaelson, Jenny Owen Youngs), Rob Schwimmer (Simon and Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder), and Dave Eggar (Train/Evanescence).

From the triumphant call to action of "C'mon While We re Young," to the rich, string-laden, vintage-pop sentimentality of "Your Heart Will Be Broken Again," to the neo-retro whimsicality of "Meet Your Father," Reliquary takes the listener on a serendipitous journey that reminds us that we all end and begin in each other.

Martin has now released a total of 6 solo albums, and has shared the stage with a wildly varied palette of artists the likes of Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Aimee Mann, Dar Williams, Rosanne Cash, Nicole Atkins, Gov’t Mule, Loudon Wainwright III, Garland Jeffreys, Marshall Crenshaw and many many more on stages in the United States, the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe.