SEPTEMBER 14 • 2023 | 85
to music. “Maggie, our older
daughter, played violin, and Anna,
our younger daughter, played
cello,” Marty said. For work today,
he said Maggie and her husband,
Derrick George, practice law
in Royal Oak. Anna works for
the State Appellate Defender
Office, helping indigent, formerly
incarcerated people.
Marty spent his last nine years
at the Free Press as its theater critic.
He and several other veteran
journalists left the paper in what
he called “the big buy-out of 2007.”
A PERFECT PARTNERSHIP
Laura Kohn, Marty’s favorite musical
partner, is a native Detroiter. Equipped
with a master’s degree in counseling from
Wayne State University in Detroit, she
works as a psychotherapist in private
practice with Southfield Mental Health
Associates. Laura had played guitar
during her years at Berkley High School,
but rediscovered her musical abilities
when Marty was teaching the instrument
to Anna. For Laura, who has multiple
sclerosis (MS), guitar proved therapeutic.
Marty related that Laura “asked her
neurologist if playing a string instrument
would be helpful for her brain, and he
said, yes, it would help with her small
motor skills. There is a connection
between MS and playing a stringed
instrument, like harp and guitar.”
Teaming up to perform with his wife
of 43 years has been fun for the couple.
They’ve played a few times at cabaret
nights held at their synagogue, Temple
Emanu-El in Oak Park. Laura’s late
parents, Beatrice and Abe Sacks, were
among the Reform temple’s founding
families. As volunteers, Marty
and Laura used to perform every
couple of weeks at the Dorothy &
Peter Brown Jewish Community
Adult Day Program in the JVS
building (now Gesher Human
Services) in Southfield.
Marty noted that Metro
Detroit has “a lot of great singer-
songwriters” in their “70s and 80s
down to those much younger in
their 20s and 30s.” He’s met many
of them through Songwriters
Anonymous, a group that “has
no dues or membership cards.
We meet once a month at Trinity House
Theater in Livonia. The level of talent just
in this group is tremendous.”
He noted that most of them perform
folk or Americana music on guitar, banjo
or accordion. Marty will be among 10 acts
performing 8-10:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29,
at the monthly Songwriters Anonymous
Showcase at Trinity House (trinityhouse.
org).
Bookings for Marty alone or with
Laura have included Baseline Folk
Society in Plymouth, Thumbfest festival
in Lexington, MAMA
’s Coffeehouse in
Bloomfield Hills, Farmington Public
Library, The Dovetail coffeehouse in
Warren. Sounds & Sights on Thursday
Nights in Chelsea and Tuesday Night
Open Mic, formerly held at Goldfish Tea
in Royal Oak.
As a bit of Kohn trivia, Marty recalled
when Maggie’s son, Spencer, 6, “got up
on stage with us and sang “How Much is
That Doggie in the Window?” and our
biggest hit, “Cinnamon Rolls” (co-written
with Laura). Biggest hit, you say? “The
audio of me singing ‘Cinnamon
Rolls’ has had 10,000 views
on YouTube,” Marty replied.
“Somebody told me it’s also been
used in the background of 900
TikTok views.”
Marty has written several clever
songs for other performers, such
as “Working 11 to 7 at 7-11” and
“Bazooka Joe,” which was about
their family dog.
HIS FIRST EP
The new EP consists of songs he
wrote over the last few years. “I
wanted to get these down and
not wait more years till I had
enough for an album,” Marty said. While
his previous solo albums included some
covers, particularly from the 1920s and
’30s, his first EP offers all original music.
“It’s me and a guitar — no overdubbing
or other people,” he said. Treated to a
preview, his song “39-Cent Hanger” from
the EP is nostalgic and touching.
Marty chose to launch his EP at Berkley
Coffee because “it’s a neighborhood place,”
and not far from the couple’s home in
Huntington Woods.
He and Laura are familiar with the
venue from performing several times
on the Thursday Open Stage night.
“(Proprietor) Kenny Showler has a great
sound system. I like that the people come
out to listen,” Marty says.
Showler encourages talented performers
to arrange BYO shows they self-promote at
his easy-going coffeehouse. He described
Marty as “friendly and funny.”
Calling what he does a hobby, Marty
still encourages everyone to come to his
gigs and find his music on streaming
platforms. There’s no charge to listen
to his songs at martykohn.
bandcamp.com, where any
tune catching one’s fancy may
be downloaded for $1 each.
That would be nice, too, Marty
acknowledged.
People from his past are
sometimes surprised to learn
of his strong commitment to
writing and performing songs.
Marty looks forward to having
some of them, including fellow
Freep retirees, bring their
curiosity to his special afternoon
concert.
Marty and
Laura Kohn
Laura and Marty in concert