Upon graduation from high school, with Emily still in high school, she spent a year attending college at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, from 1988–1989. In 1987, Erwin was awarded second place for the fiddle in the National fiddle championships held yearly in Winfield, Kansas. "That's how we made money in high school." Also while in high school Erwin performed at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, TX, in a strolling duo with Troy Gilchrist for a summer. "We'd drive down to the west end of Dallas and open our cases, and that was our job", Erwin said of it in a later interview to 60 Minutes II correspondent Dan Rather. The four students formed the teenage bluegrass group "Blue Night Express", playing together for five years, from 1984–1989, while still attending private Greenhill School. The sisters showed an "almost obsessive" interest in busking at small venues and attending bluegrass festivals. Erwin composes songs and arranges the use of stringed instruments for concert and recording performances.īy 1983, Erwin was touring with her sister Emily and school friends siblings Troy and Sharon Gilchrist. Although Erwin became famous for her harmony and mastery of the fiddle, she also plays a variety of strings that include the viola, guitar, mandolin, and double bass. The two sisters were provided musical instruction on several instruments, and their talent for vocal harmony continued to be nurtured. Her sister Emily shared her love and interest in music, and displayed early talent herself.
She also was active in her school orchestra.
Įncouraged by her parents – educators at private schools – Erwin began playing violin at age five, and by age 12, started to learn to play " fiddle style" after receiving a birthday gift of fiddle lessons. Martha Elenor Erwin, nicknamed Martie, was born October 12, 1969, in York, Pennsylvania. Erwin subsequently stood by her bandmates as they were engulfed in political controversy. The result was a trio so commercially successful that it took the country music industry by surprise, with a number of hit songs, albums, and awards that have set records in the music industry. After the departure of Macy, and the replacement of Lynch with singer Natalie Maines, the band widened their musical repertoire and appearance. After graduation, the sisters forged an alliance with two other women they had met through the Dallas music scene, Laura Lynch and Robin Lynn Macy, forming a bluegrass and country music band, busking and touring the bluegrass festival circuits for six years. She also contributes her skills in vocal harmony and backing vocals, as well as orchestrating string arrangements for the band.Įrwin learned several instruments at a young age, honing her skills with her younger sister, Emily Strayer (born Emily Erwin) and two schoolmates (a brother and sister team, Troy and Sharon Gilchrist) for over five years as a part of a touring bluegrass quartet while in high school. She has written and co-written a number of the band's songs, some of which have become chart-topping hits. Erwin is accomplished on several other instruments, including the mandolin, viola, double bass and guitar. She won awards in national fiddle championships while still a teenager. Martha Elenor Maguire (née Erwin, previously Seidel October 12, 1969) is an American musician who is a founding member of both the all-female alternative country band The Chicks and country bluegrass duo Court Yard Hounds.
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