Philadelphia native and up-and-coming singer/songwriter Todd Martin played to an undersized audience at The Stein Thursday, performing his brand of melancholy romantic ballads. Martin made the best of the small crowd, entertaining it with his emotional songs, ranging from the regretful and harmony-driven "Punchline" and "Midas to Minus" to a cover of The Postal Service's new wave-influenced hit "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight." Martin began his hour-plus set with a cover of Ryan Adam's 'woe-is-me' anthem, "The Rescue Blues," before performing a number of similar originals and cover songs.

The constantly-travelling Martin faces the daunting nightly task of performing in front of unfamiliar audiences. During Thursday's performance, Martin overcame the challenge and quickly endeared himself to the intimate crowd with his quirky sense of humor and inviting personality.

On Martin's most recent record, he is supported by friends and fellow folksters Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. But he performed alone Thursday, armed with a six-string acoustic guitar and a microphone. Martin's secret weapons, however, were the countless digital effect pedals that he had at his disposal during his performance.

Like fellow songwriters and solo performers Tim Reynolds and Howie Day, Martin uses his many guitar and vocal effect pedals to build a fuller sound-a difficult task for any solo performer. Martin was particularly fond of his two delay modelers-which allowed him to record and loop guitar and vocal parts on the fly-and his chorus effect pedal, which created a fuller vocal effect by duplicating and layering his sound.

Though still early in his career, Martin has already shared the stage with established artists such as Matt Nathanson, Granian and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, to name just a few. In fact, just a month ago, Martin performed with Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers at nearly sold-out Paradise Rock Club in Boston.

Todd Martin's style of weighty and poignant folk music may not be for everyone, but it was obvious Thursday that lovers of thoughtful and melodic songwriting have good reason to give him a listen.