The Virginia-Born performer had a successful career off Broadway and in TV and film before launching her music career after a chance encounter with a songwriter while shooting the CMT reality show ?Popularity Contest?

The assembly of the parts of Marthia Sides? life wouldn?t be complete without a mention of the amazing performing and musical talent that?s part of her family history. Her great grandma was a young, Italian born vaudeville star who sang and danced under the name ?Barazzo? at places like the Beale Street Palace. Her grandmother was an opera singer who was once asked to participate in the Met?s Young Artist program. And her paternal grandfather was Elvis Presley?s engineer at American Studios, where The King recorded after his years at Sun Studio. Her dad was also an engineer who sang.

Looking back on the greatest piece of advice she was ever given, Sides says, ?My dad told me from a very young age, ?No matter how talented you are, no matter what you do, no matter how successful, you?re going to be lacking something if you sing only for yourself.? He told me that as a singer, my work was all about making people happy. He would say, ?You?re there because at the end of the day, your audience is out there because they want their lives to be better. They?re looking to you to help them escape what may be the worst week of their lives.? I remember a show I played in a college town called Manhattan, Kansas, where a friend had, ironically, moved after studying in Manhattan, New York. After the show, a guy literally came up to me and said, ?I have had the worst week of my entire life and you have made it better.? Turns out my dad was right, and it?s my pleasure to get out there now and bring as much joy as I can to people who need to hear it most.?

Check out Marthia on MySpace!

myspace.com/marthia

facebook.com/marthia

Also check her out on CMT.com.