Today we’d like to introduce you to William Lee Martin.
Thanks for sharing your story with us William Lee. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Quitting your job and starting a comedy career four days before turning 30, is probably not the smartest plan but that’s exactly what I did in 1996. Three short years later, I was opening for country legend, George Strait at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, TX in front of 75,000 laughing concert goers. That performance propelled my career.
Rising quickly to the role of a headliner for some of the most prestigious clubs including the Funny Bones, Improvs, Catch a Rising Star, Loony Bin, Carnival’s Punchliner and becoming a regular in Las Vegas, I first hit the stage under the lifelong nickname his grandfather gave me, “Cowboy Bill.” I’ve also entertained our troops overseas and toured with other country stars like George Jones, Brad Paisley and all four of the Blue Collar guys.
It all culminated in getting my first one-hour television special in 2015 on CMT called “Cowboy Bill Martin: Let the Laughter Roll” which was seen in over 1.7 million homes. In January 2016, I launched the Kings of Cowtown Comedy Tour with comedy newcomer and internet sensation, Chad Prather. 2017, I toured with Alex Reymundo, of the Latin Kings of Comedy Fame on the Tex Mex Tour. 2018, I toured with my one-man show, “Standing in the Middle.”
Despite the success, I once again made wholesale changes in my life and career in 2017 including cleaning up my act, dropping the moniker, Cowboy Bill and getting my first movie role in the film to be released in 2019, “300 Savage.”
On social media, I write and perform the popular, The Living in the Middle Report, a hilarious explanation of problems facing middle-income America. Although my passion is comedy, I’ve also written several songs including two songs that are on the radio now, “I’ll Stand for You” co-written and sung by Chris Rivers and “400 Horses” co-written by William Marion, John Shaw and sung by Will Southern.
On the home front, I am happily married and we are the proud parents of five beautiful children. My wife and I also founded the Cowboys Who Care Foundation, a 501C3 non-profit, to deliver cowboy hats to boys and girls who have cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. To date, CWCF has delivered over 8,000 brand-new hats across the country from New York to California.
2019 has been started with a bang. I shot a pilot for The Country Network in January which will air in April called, “Dallas Days Fort Worth Nights.” Think the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson but with cowboy hats. I’ve also shot a 6 episode web/TV mini-series which is due out in the summer. Plus, I’m also releasing two brand new comedy TV specials on Sirius/XM, video on demand, “Standing in the Middle” to be released in May and “The Nutcracker Christmas Comedy Special” to be released in November.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The ups and downs of a career this long in show business can be tough. One minute, you’re on top of the world and the next minute, an agent is telling you that they just don’t think you are going to be a star. Or one minute, you have a special coming out on television and the next you get an email from the brand new VP of programming on the station it’s going to run on telling you she’s decided to pull your special in a three-sentence paragraph that ends with the brutal insincere close of, “Have a nice day.” Trust me, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.
But this is a story that came out a few years ago. It’s called the Coin Story.
Although comedian William Lee Martin has never served in the military, the Texas native carries a special Military coin in his pocket on stage with him for every show he has done since 2003. Martin who is fresh off his first one-hour television special on CMT called, “Let The Laughter Roll” said the coin means so much to him.
Martin, who was known as Cowboy Bill at the time, was one of the first guys to sign with a new management group after they had signed the now famous, Blue Collar Comedy Tour back in 2001. Then, after touring with acts like George Strait, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley, and the late George Jones, Martin left that management group in 2003 to strike out on his own again and found himself at a club in Oklahoma City.
“It was the late show Friday night,” Martin said, “and I felt like I was babysitting a bunch of people who were heavily intoxicated.” Martin described it like being at Chuck E. Cheese playing that game “Whack-a-Moe” where the little gophers are popping-up but instead of a mallet, he was hitting the audience with heckler comebacks. After getting off stage he thought. “I have had enough of this,” Martin said. “What have I done to my career?”
But that’s when a young man walked up to Martin and changed his perspective. A young man, “This kid, I say kid because he couldn’t have been more than 22 years old, walks up to me and says, ‘Hey Man, I want to give you something.’ And I was very much into what I had just been through, still thinking about my “hard time” I had on stage.
And then he says to me, ‘A buddy of mine and we went to elementary school and then middle school and high school together. We enlisted in the Marine Corp. on the same day, went to boot camp together and then got sent to Iraq together on the “Buddy Program.”
“And then said, ‘three months ago and I haven’t laughed since… until tonight, here at your show.’ He said, ‘I knew you were getting frustrated but I was rolling on the floor with the heckle lines you were throwing out. And he said, ‘and I want to give you this. And then he handed Martin a gold recruiting Sergeant Majors coin and said, ‘and I want to give you recruiting coin because you gave me back the laughter.”
That night had a profound effect on the comic. Martin says, “That night brought it all back in perspective for me. Suddenly, I remembered that I was only a comic telling my stories and in the vast scheme of things nobody was taking a shot at me.”
And ever since then, Martin has hit the stage with that coin in his pocket. Martin adds, “You see the reason I and every other comic in this country can say what we want to on stage, is because there are men and women who protect this country for us and secures our freedoms like free speech. That coin reminds me of that and I try not to take myself so seriously. And in my show, I do a toast to the military, not because I am looking for an applause break, it’s because I think I understand what their sacrifice means to me.”
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Smiles by day, Laughs at Night.
Do you know a child battling cancer or life-threatening illness? Be a champion of the cause, Cowboys Who Care Foundation (CWCF) seeks to reach more children as it launches its Request A Hat program.
Cowboys Who Care Foundation, founded by comedian William Lee Martin (Cowboy Bill) and wife, Michele Martin have delivered more than 8,000 cowboy hats to boys and girls during hospital visits across the country and now, the nonprofit wants to take it a step further. The Request a Hat program is an opportunity to let CWCF know about a kid in your town who could use a cowboy hat.
“It is our belief that there is nothing more precious than a child’s smile,” said CWCF co-founder, Michele Martin. “Cowboy hats are still a symbol of bravery, honor and now with the help from our supporters, compassion.”
The cowboy comedian brings laughs by night to his fans and smiles by day to kids since 2011 when the 501(c)3 nonprofit began traveling to children’s hospitals across the country providing emotional support, smiles and free cowboy hats to children battling cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.
It all began with a young girl named Ashley Miller. In 2010, Cowboy Bill was asked to perform at Miller’s charity golf tournament that benefited her battle against a rare form of cancer. A year later, Cowboy Bill received the news that Miller lost her battle. The impact of the news weighed heavily on Cowboy Bill and made him want to take action and help other kids just like her.
“After Ashley lost her battle, I knew I needed to help other kids just like her,” said CEO and founder, Cowboy Bill. “I started searching images of kids with cancer and saw their big beautiful smiles and bald heads. And in the mirror, I could see my cowboy hat and it hit me, these kids need cowboy hats.”
Thanks to the foundation’s first and largest supporter, Resistol, the cowboy hats are the real deal. At the very beginning, Resistol provided thousands of hats for FREE that included 10 to 15 different styles. The company also went the extra mile to customize these hats by developing a special comfort fit liner for the children that helps with scalp sensitivity.
Help us reaffirm the strength and bravery these children have by visiting our website and filling out the Request a Hat form. For more information on Cowboys Who Care Foundation and how you can support their cause at www.cowboyswhocare.org.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Miles Davis said it best, “Man, sometimes, it takes you a long time to sound like yourself.”
For a long time, I kept reaching a brass ring that was seemingly out of my touch. For whatever reason, what I thought would make me happy, fame and fortune, seem to slip. And then one day, through prayer, I realized that I was chasing the wrong goal.
Because at some point, I realized that my brass ring was in being me. Authentically, me. And now, that I have realized that, the world has seemed to open up.
My work ethic is still crazy. I put in 10-12 hours a day on writing, promoting, booking, performing, traveling. But I finally know what I am working for.
Contact Info:
- Website: WilliamLeeMartin.com, CowboysWhoCare.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/WilliamLeeMartin
- Facebook: Facebook.com/ComedianWilliamLeeMartin, Facebook.com/CowboysWhoCare
Image Credit:
Headshots, Cowtown Drive-In Productions, Hospital visits, Cowboys Who Care Foundation
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