Gumbo Kitchen pays tribute to Classic Albums Live Founder Craig Martin
By Ronnie Littlejohn2026/09/17
Ronnie Littlejohn pictured with Craig Martin back in 2025
Credit:Ronnie Littlejohn
The late, great Craig Martin, founder of Classic Albums Live and supporter of so many musicians, passed away on August 23 at the age of 64. I interviewed Craig close to a year ago in October 2025. He came in, we hung out, played some of his music and talked about Classic Albums Live, the music tribute show that takes the greatest albums and recreates them live on stage – note for note, cut for cut. It was a really cool hang between two old buddies.
In the wake of his passing, I decided to revisit that interview, play some Craig Martin music and share some beautiful heartfelt tributes from members of the Classic Albums Live family.
If you knew Craig, I think you’ll get a kick out of this conversation, and if you didn’t know Craig, I would like to introduce you right now to a great man.
With Classic Albums Live, do you remember a moment when you said, “Hey man, I got this idea!” Do you remember that?
Yes, I do. It’s an old story, we were driving back from a gig and it was two, three in the morning and you’re alone with your thoughts while everyone is asleep in the van and I had the idea. I would hear a Stone song on the radio and I said, ‘Oh man, we should play that song, we should play that album side, we should do that entire album, we should do Dark Side of the Moon, oh we should do Led Zeppelin.’
Within that drive, I think we are at Kingston by then, so from Kingston to Toronto, I had come up with the idea for Classic Albums Live and had my first show up and running in two months. I’ve hit the ground running ever since then. We played Dark Side of the Moon at Phoenix Concert Theatre and I knew that night that my life had changed forever, from the way the audience responded to how the band played, all the processing and getting there came to fruition.
This interview has edited and condensed for clarity.