The Jeff Crilley Show

On this episode of The Jeff Crilley Show, Jeff sits down with country singer-songwriter Tori Martin, a Florida native now splitting her time between Texas and Nashville. Tori traces her path from singing under the hallway light with a hairbrush to performing in Texas Opry houses at 14 and landing paid gigs in her hometown of Azle....

Show Notes

Very few artists make it from small-town stages to the national charts. Country singer-songwriter Tori Martin is building that path one song at a time.

In this episode of The Jeff Crilley Show, Jeff talks with Tori Martin, a Florida native now based in Texas and Nashville, recording with LuckySky Music. Known for her neo-traditional country sound and “glam cowgirl” style, Tori blends classic country influences with her own modern storytelling voice.

In this conversation, they cover:
- Her early days singing in Texas Opry houses and landing her first paid gigs at 14
- The influence of Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and the classic country greats
- The story behind her Texas No. 1 single “Abilene” and the Laredo-inspired ballad “Last Night in Laredo”
- Her single “Lucky,” which reached No. 42 on the Billboard Indicator chart, and the message of taking a chance on yourself

Follow Tori Martin and stream her music:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetorimartin/

If you love real-deal country music and honest songwriting, this episode is for you.

What is The Jeff Crilley Show?

Jeff Crilley is a former news reporter, who spent more than 25 years in newsrooms across the country. He’s an Emmy Award winning journalist, who decided to make the jump from news in 2008, when he founded his own PR Firm, Real News Public Relations.

Today, the firm has more than 100 clients, and Jeff continues to tell the stories of interesting people he meets along the way.

These are those stories.

Coming up next on the Jeff Crilley Show, you're gonna meet the great Tori Martin. She is a rising star in the country music world. Her incredible journey just predicting that the worst is yet to come, which is unfortunate, said one person here. Until now, they've enjoyed the reputation of being the nation's icebox. Watched a burglar in his home this morning by webcam. As a journalist of over twenty five years, stories are what make my world turn. Reporting live from The Dallas Newsroom tonight, Jeff Crilley, Fox four news. But in 2008, I took the jump from my familiar life and started a PR firm from my home. We're talking about anyone with a camcorder like the one I'm using becomes a television network. We started slowly growing the company and we now have over a 100 clients and we've branched into the world of live digital broadcasting. I now own eight different TV studios and have a huge team. And the stories that I now get to share are sometimes the most important of my life. Life has a funny way of coming around full circle. This is The Jeff Crilley Show. Well, I have so much respect for anyone who is successful in music because for every 100 stars, there are millions of starving artists who are trying to get there. I want you to remember this name because one day she's gonna be in the country music hall of fame. Tori Martin is in the studio. She's a singer. She's a songwriter, and she's with Lucky Sky Music. Thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for having me, Jeff. Alright. Let's go back to the your earliest memories of singing. I mean, were you the kid with the hairbrush? I definitely was. And, like, I came out singing. I think I could sing before I could talk, and I was telling you I actually was the only oddball in my family. Nobody else is in music pursues it or does it, but I just knew early on. I'm like, Oh, this is it. I absolutely love music. I love singing. And yes, I was the hairbrush singer underneath the hall light. That was my first stage. I love it. Okay. Who were some of your early inspirations? I was telling you about Dolly Parton a little bit, but I'm like, I have to tell you my papa definitely loved country music, and he bought me my first guitar, and he definitely helped me pursue my music. He was like, you gotta go after this, know, keep singing for Paw Paw. And then I was raised on the classics of country, so he told me it was country music. It's not any music that you pursue, it's country music. And so I knew then. I'm like, all right. So I fell in love with it back then, but I love, you know, the classics. It's really kind of like the backbone of who I am. Yes. Like Tammy Wynette, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and then I'm a huge Dolly fan. I love it. Okay, tell me about your first paying gig. How much did you make? Where was it? Do you remember? I don't know if I remember how much I made per se, because I was so young. I got into music when I was 14, so it really wasn't about the money. It wasn't like, Oh, I'm motivated by a number. I just wanted to be on stage. I first started singing in Opry houses around Texas, which is kind of like a dying breed. They don't really do those anymore. But it's like a mini Opry, like the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville that You'd I hope to perform at one get on stage, you'd sing with a house band, and you'd do a country standard. That's where I started. And then my first show that I played where I was paid and hired was in my little hometown, Azle, Texas. And, they were having an outdoor concert series, and then I remember playing something for the chamber. So Azle, Texas was my first concert paid. She became a professional artist at that point. That's so I want we're gonna have her perform for us live here in a minute, but I I want you to set this up. We're about to play Last Night in Laredo. So tell us about this song. What inspired you? Last Night in Laredo is my last release that I put out in the '25. I have been, like, really in a neo traditional country head space, and so a lot of my new music is very Western, and I'm having so much fun writing and performing those songs. But I had a song that came out at the top of last year called Abilene, and it was this good old country heartbreak story song, and it went number one in Texas. Wow, congrats. Thank you. And we did this really cool music video for it. But I kind of think Last Night Laredo is like a sister song to that. So it has a lot of the sadness and the heartbreak, but it's a different story. It's about like a rodeo girl in Laredo, and falling in love with a guy, and he breaks her heart because he's moving on, and just kind of like a summer love. It's a country ballad, and it did really well. And online, you know, I had some little viral moments. The whole city of Laredo was, like, getting behind me. They loved the song. That sounds so was really cool. I was on the radio down there, and all that fun stuff, and they couldn't have been sweeter. So I'm so grateful for their support. Outstanding. Let's go ahead and roll that clip. Wow. You have the voice of an angel. Oh, you're so sweet. Thank you. Well, so I'm I I always ask this question of artists. Do you come up with the lyrics first or the melody? It's different every time, you know? Like, it's fun to be a songwriter. Mhmm. Also, as an artist, I'm just like open. You have to be ready for the inspiration to strike. So sometimes it is the lyrics, and sometimes it's the melody, like, kinda haunting you. Yeah. I co wrote this one with Kirsty Manna, and Maddie Lynn Hart, and we Girl Power in the Room in Nashville, Tennessee. And Maddie actually had the hook. She was like, Last night in Laredo, I just feel like we could write that. And sometimes it's like that, you have a hook, and you're like, Okay, we just start writing it. So you you just gotta be open and ready. We're gonna pull up your Instagram page because you have so many wonderful images. Oh, yeah. And you kinda spend your time between DFW and and Nashville. Is that right? Yes. I go back and forth. I love the fort, though. Alright. Let's keep rolling down the down her Instagram page, because you have some fabulous images. Oh, thank you. What are some of your immediate goals? What what like, how can my audience help you? Oh, yeah. I mean, obviously, give me a follow, like, let's be friends, but liking, commenting, and then streaming my music is so helpful. Absolutely. Add it to your favorite playlist. Absolutely. Now, you're gonna perform for us, so why don't you set up the song that you're about to play? Sure. I thought I'd do one for you. I actually released this with my label Lucky Sky, and Bill Warner is my producer. My my hubby's in the room here too, Jason. But I wrote this song with Kirsty Manna and Bill Di Luigi, and we put it out. It was, you know, about rolling the dice, taking a chance in life. Actually, I wrote that with somebody else. I just thought about that. That's okay. I wrote that song with Kirsty Manna and Lynn Wilbanks, and I love that I have all the women. I'm all the girl power. Girl power. Yeah. We wrote that one at CSAC, so in Nashville, Tennessee, and it was about like taking a chance on yourself, and in love, and in life, and you gotta roll the dice because you might get lucky. I love it. That's what the song is. Is yours. Alright. This song did pretty well for us. We had released it to country radio, and it got to number 42 on the Billboard Indicator chart. Congratulations. Thank you. This is Lucky. I got chills. That was amazing. The crowd went crazy. We're almost out of time. So maybe final thoughts and maybe words of encouragement to that young artist, the little girl singing into her hairbrush. Oh, I love that. What words of encouragement do you want to give to that young person? Just keep singing and just keep showing up and take a chance on yourself because you might get lucky. A lot of hard work leads up to good luck, you know? I love that. Well, you so much for sharing your heart and, your wisdom with us. We're gonna end with her Instagram page so you can get in touch with her. Thank you so much, the great Tori Martin. Thanks for having That's it for now. We'll see you next time.