#TourHappens…With Dorothy Martin

Released Date: June 24, 2016

From the birth of the band in 2013 to Los Angeles residencies at favored local clubs, from touring with Miguel and Halestorm to signing with Roc Nation, from releasing their debut album ROCKISDEAD to selling out shows on their first headlining tour, Dorothy (the band = Dorothy Martin, Gregg Cash, DJ Black and Dylan Howard) has been a hard hitting, raw, metal meets blues, whiskey-fueled adrenalin shot to the heart of the rock lover. Delivering that good music drug live to fans near and far is an art form with a big learning curve because late nights, long stretches on the road in a van and random hotel-living is hard work and some artists and bands (and tour managers) do it better than others, but the payoff is nights like Dorothy’s sold out homecoming show Saturday night at the Troubadour. They grow up so fast.

Were you there? It was a beautiful, powerful – and loud – demonstration of individual talent and along with how well their specific arts mesh to form that collective and dynamic head-banging sonic force that the Troubadour crowd could not get enough of. Filthy hot guitar from Black, Howard doing pure rock damage behind the drum kit and Cash’s muddy rivers of bass are the perfect framework for Martin’s extraordinary vocal prowess: her high roof, that sensual texture and a vibrato to die for. And then there was the NSFW joke stylings of that don’t-give-up-your-day-job comedy duo, Cash & Howard.

Yeah, it was beautiful. So much so that the waves of absolute adoration flooding her caused Martin to momentarily lose her “I’m the baddest bitch” composure with a few tears…which she promptly cursed us out for (sorry, not sorry). The aftermath was just as precious: Martin’s mom in attendance, actor Efren Ramirez in pure fan-mode (yet no love for Pedro in the video below), how Martin and her band engaged folks with genuine appreciation off stage, tour manager Kristin “Gypsy” Schloesser herding her kittens like a boss, and through it all Martin’s mane of jet black locks was on point (thanks to TRUST Salon stylist René Cortez). There was even a Bieber sighting but…whatever.

Now that this leg of the tour is done (16 shows down, 20 to go beginning in two weeks), one wonders about the road lessons learned, so Martin kindly shared some of her newfound wisdom because #tourhappens.

DOs & DON’Ts

“Get your sleep whenever you can, take your makeup off every night, don’t party your ass off, don’t eat shitty food, even though it’s hard. I mean…I try to take care of myself. I try to squeeze in a workout even when I’m exhausted, because it really does condition you. Everyone loses 10 pounds the first week of tour. It’s crazy, because we’re working out. I make myself go to the gym and then we play a show, so it’s like a double workout. I’m like, ‘Why do I want donuts right now and, fuck, pizza?’ Oh god, I ate two quesadillas in Vegas within a two hour sitting.

Warm up before every show, very thoroughly. Don’t let it get to your head if you have a bad night. I feel like the whole tour conditioned us for this show, so it was perfect.”

The Grateful Grind

“Well, this – coming home to this show was the best thing that’s ever happened to us. That was…that was incredible. I definitely cried on stage, everyone saw it. I was like, ‘Fuck you guys, assholes.’ Coming home to that, I mean, wow. I can’t wait for the second leg of this tour. I’m just blown away.

This tour was more of a grind like wake up, get in the van, go to the next venue, load in, sound check, me get to check into the hotel, shower, makeup, hair, warm-up, sound check, meet and greet, show, and then – since we’re the headliner – we’re playing later, which we’re not used to. Then it’s, like, get your ass to the hotel and sleep. It was very structured, very focused.”

Backseat Driver

“I actually was terrified to go sit in a van for long drives like that. I’m like, ‘I’m going to get claustrophobic. I’m going to have anxiety.’ It’s tough when it’s around the seven hour or more mark, five to six, not so bad. What’s great about the van is we get to stay in hotel rooms and take a shower. We all shower, and we can go number two whenever we want. It’s awesome; having hotel rooms are very essential to your well-being.

It’s not too bad. Plus, I take the back row, and I lay down, so I can get a nap in, and if anyone else really needs to they get a nap in too, so it’s fine. Plus we got Kristin Schloesser, aka, Gypsy, aka ‘Gangster bitch muthafucka’ tour managing us, so it’s all good.”

Ship It

“Well, people drop air biscuits constantly, which is disgusting, and then our rhythm section, Greg and Dylan, which we have dubbed ‘Grylan,’ like the celebrity couple names when you mash them together. Now they’re ‘Grylan.’ They won’t shut the fuck up, ever. They talk about their genitals constantly, and they play music on their iPhones and totally geek out until someone clobbers them, usually Gypsy. I just put earplugs in, float away.”

Knowledge Is Power…So Know Thyself

“What have I learned? That’s a hard question. I’ve learned that I can do a lot more than I thought I could.

[‘Bingo,’ the one called Gypsy, chimed in]

Yeah, I really learned that I could handle it, and I think you adapt and overcome and your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy, and the audience plays a huge part in the energy of the night.”

After their two-week break which will include some spa action and time in the studio recording album #2 (with an expected 2017 release date), the Dorothy train rolls on starting February 15th. We recommend getting your tickets now.