Joe Martin

The Puck O' The Irish

Most days, Joe Martin is a rabble-rouser for the good, a tireless worker for the homeless. He cofounded Seattle's Pike Place Medical Clinic and Downtown Emergency Service Center. This week, though, is special because — faith and begorra! — it's the countdown to St. Patrick's Day. It is this week that Martin, 55, really gets his Irish up as singer, harmonica player and bodrum banger for the band Clay Pipe. At 5 feet tall, with rosy cheeks, sparkly blue eyes, wiry beard and tweed cap herding wild Irish hair, he looks the part of an honest-to-God leprechaun. There could not be a better one. Ornery, crafty, gentle, kind, long on wit and loud of song, he belts out a ballad and charms a crowd all for a frothy pint and a bit o' coin.

And with that, here's to the wee bit o' Irish in us all this week:

Q: Where were you born?

A: I was born in Boston. I never knew my father. He died shortly after I was born. The person who played the role of my father was my uncle, Tom Murphy. He was born in Donegal. Q: What is St. Patrick's Day like for you and Clay Pipe?

A: Finding us on Paddy's Day is like finding an elf on Christmas Eve; we're busy. This year we'll be at T.S. McHugh's on Lower Queen Anne in the afternoon and Murphy's Pub in Wallingford in the night. We've been playing together for almost 25 years in different capacities; we're becoming the grand old men of this genre. There are three of us, and the collective age of our band is over 165.

Q: What's your favorite Irish blessing?

A: My grandmother used to say, "Fair wind to your heels."

Q: Your favorite ballad?

A: I think "Wild Mountain Thyme" is a beautiful song. Thyme, of course, is an herb. And thyme is sexuality in the symbolism of the Celtic people. The song goes: And we'll all go together to pick wild mountain thyme. All around the blooming heather will ye go, lassie, go.

Q: And beer?

A: Heineken. That was John F. Kennedy's favorite beer. Did you know that?

Q: What credo do you try to live by?

A: We have so much increasing inequity. I hope I contribute toward a more just and fair society. In personal relations, I hope I'm kind, I hope I'm tolerant, and I hope I'm patient. And I hope that people are with me, because, Lord knows, they need to be.

Q: Do people think you might actually be a leprechaun?

A: Oh, yes. Sometimes they say, "Where's your pot of gold?" But how do you know I'm not a leprechaun protecting a pot of gold?