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