Born John Stephen McSwain in the San Joaquin Valley hamlet of Plainsburg and raised in Berkeley, Dude Martin and his band were at the forefront of the Western swing scene for more than 20 years.
Though he never toured widely, he became known beyond Northern California via mid-1930s radio transcriptions for MacGregor & Sollie, then through a postwar show on the NBC Blue Network, originating from San Francisco. He also made numerous commercial recordings for major labels such as RCA Victor and Mercury.
Martin organized his first country band, the Nevada Night Herders, while still a teenager. His later act, Dude Martin and His Round-Up Gang, became regular performers on a series of Bay Area radio stations through the 1930’s and 1940’s.
Martin was more than a bandleader; he radio hosted programs such as his popular KGO “Sunrise Roundup” show and transitioned to television, becoming a star of early broadcasts on KGO-TV.
Dude Martin died in 1991 at age 75.
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