SAMANTHA ELIN-Songs& Such

When Bob Gothar was practicing just before recording one of Samantha's songs, he started noodling around. She overheard what he was doing and immediately knew there was a song there. She wrote the lyrics and knew who could sing a sweet romantic song but give it an edge with his raspy voice and Dylanesque phrasing—Hirth Martinez.

In 2009, Samantha had bumped into a high school classmate, bassist Ravi Knypstra, who urged her to get to Downtown L.A. to see Hirth Martinez and his jazz combo. You got to meet this guy, he said. She not only went to see him, she became a monthly attendee at the group's Seven Grand residency.

Never famous in this country, Hirth was one of the best darned songwriters you'd ever hope to hear. He had a loyal following in Japan and South Korea. Exquisite sambas, folk, blues, rock. A distinctive writing style and singing voice. Look him up. His life story is truly unique and inspiring. He and Samantha became fast friends.

Hirth had been a longtime professional guitarist, subbing sometimes for jazz great Joe Pass. He frequented Norm's Rare Guitars, a legendary music shop in the San Fernando Valley. One day, owner Norm Harris told Bob Dylan he had to listen to a demo tape from one of Norm's talented customers. Dylan did listen and was impressed, to put it mildly. Hirth loved to tell the story of how Dylan learned about him and championed him to Robbie Robertson, who would be so eager to produce Hirth's first record that he made it part of The Band's agreement when signing with Warner Records. Hirth would go on to record more acclaimed albums and co-write with people like Donald Fagen and have his songs covered by bands like Manfred Mann. He and Samantha wrote one song together; she wishes they'd gotten to do more. He passed away in 2015.