The inspiration for one Eastern graduate to become a musician stemmed from her experiences early in life.

Charlotte Martin, a 1998 graduate and native Charleston resident, who spoke to audience members and gave a musical performance Monday in the Alumni Lounge of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, said she wanted to become a musician because of own natural abilities.

“I did it when I was little because I was good at it,” she said.

Martin kept on playing, singing and composing music as she got older, and her efforts recently earned her a multi-album deal with RCA records.

Martin has lived in Los Angeles for a year and a half. She said New York and Los Angeles are the places to go to jump start a music career, and Los Angeles seemed, to her, the least scary of the two.

Unlike how most people break into the music business, Martin never made a demo tape. She said two well-placed performances was all it took for her to get the ball rolling for her in the business.

Martin’s musical performance consisted of four songs, one of which proclaimed in the chorus, “I’m normal. Please date me.”

She said she writes about simple things. She laughed as she told the group she gets rejected a lot, and that rejection feeds into her lyrics.

Her musical performance drifted from sad and serious to light and humorous, giving variety to the listeners.

During a question and answer session following her performance, Martin was asked why she attempted to make a career out of music.

“There’s nothing else I can do,” she said.

Martin said she only will get 17 cents for every CD sold. Plus, she has to pay back the $1.5 million dollars RCA is giving her to get started. She joked that her manager refers to her as his “meal ticket” and has begun to put the letters FVH in e-mails to her, standing for future vacation home.

Besides making her own CDs, Martin also plans on being a song writer.

In June, Martin will go on the road in an RV “with five smelly men” for a House of Blues tour.

As for the distant future, Martin said she hopes to have a 10 year music career. She said she would be happy if she sold enough records that her label doesn’t drop her and so she can pay her bills.

She said the question of what music does for her was a tough question. She quoted her producer when she said, “Music is the soundtrack for life.”

She also said, “It associates you with certain parts of your life.”