Ron Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith

Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born 8 January 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985. Some of the same artists who inspired Sexsmith—Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Ray Davies and John Hiatt—are now people whose praise he has won.

Sexsmith is the subject of a 2010 documentary, Love Shines.

Biography

Early career

Sexsmith was seventeen when he started playing at a bar, the Lion's Tavern, in his hometown. He would gain a reputation as "The One-Man Jukebox" for his aptitude for playing requests. However, four to five years of this led him to play original songs and more obscure music his audience did not favour.

He decided to start writing songs after the birth of his first child, Christopher, in 1985. He moved to Toronto, formed a band called The Uncool, and released a cassette, Out of the Duff. A year later, he released There’s a Way. Next came the birth of his second child, Evelyn, in 1989.

Meanwhile, he worked as a courier, and released Grand Opera Lane in 1991. On the strength of this album, and the attention garnered by the song "Speaking with the Angels", Sexsmith earned a contract which led to his self-titled album in 1995. The album received wider attention when it was praised by Elvis Costello, for whom Sexsmith later opened.

Increased success and recognition

Between 1997 and 2001, Sexsmith released three more albums before the acclaimed Cobblestone Runway in 2002. Retriever, his next album, is a more pop-oriented album and is dedicated to Elliott Smith and Johnny Cash. In 2004, he performed at the RuhrTriennale in the concert series Century of Song hosted by Grammy Award-winner Bill Frisell.

On May 1, 2001, Sexsmith performed "Just My Heart Talkin'" on the BBC's Later with Jools Holland musical showcase, alongside R.E.M., Orbital, India.Arie, and Clearlake. Holland backed him on piano. It was his second appearance on the show. He continued to grow in popularity, and began to have some radio success, particularly on Canadian adult oriented radio.

In 2002, Sexsmith recorded a cover version of "This is Where I Belong", it being the title track for a tribute album of the same name , subtitled 'The songs of Ray Davies and the Kinks', and including contributions from Damon Albarn, Bebel Gilberto and Queens of the Stone Age, among others. About this recording, Ray Davies later wrote, "he has a great voice".

The same year, he won a songwriter of the year Juno Award for "Whatever it Takes".

Collaborations and covers

Sexsmith has collaborated with many artists. In 2006 he performed a duet of "So Long Marianne" with Leonard Cohen in Yorkville, Toronto. Sexmith sang in "An Elephant Insect" appearing on the 2003 Shonen Knife album Heavy Songs. In 2005, he released a collection of songs recorded with drummer Don Kerr during the production of Retriever, called Destination Unknown.The song "Gold in Them Hills" written by Sexsmith features vocals from Coldplay's Chris Martin. In addition to Martin, Sexsmith has a number of famous admirers, including Elvis Costello, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Steve Earle, and Sheryl Crow, many of whom have covered Sexsmith's songs. His song "Secret Heart" has been covered by Rod Stewart, Feist, and Nick Lowe. Sexsmith co-wrote "Brandy Alexander" with Feist. Versions appear on Sexsmith's Exit Strategy of the Soul, and on Feist's international hit album The Reminder. More recently, a version of Sexsmith's "Whatever It Takes" appeared on Michael Bublé's album Crazy Love.

Sesmith's most recent album is Long Player Late Bloomer, released March 1, 2011. 2011.

On film

Ron Sexsmith is the subject of the film Love Shines, directed by Douglas Arrowsmith and produced by Paperny Films. Love Shines premiered at the 2010 Vancouver International Film Festival on Friday, October 8, 2010.

Personal life

Sexsmith has two children with his ex-wife Jocelyne: a son, Christopher (born in 1985); and a daughter, Evelyne (born in 1989).

In 2001, his fifteen-year marriage ended.

His partner, Colleen Hixenbaugh, is also a musician. She is a member of By Divine Right, half of the duo Jack and Ginger , and currently the duo Colleen and Paul with Paul Linklater.

Style

His first five albums are generally melancholic pop folk with elegant melodies, accentuated use of guitars and economic application of other instruments. On his sixth album, Cobblestone Runway, producer Martin Terefe supplemented this style with, among other things, synthesizers, back-up singers, gospel choirs, and string sections. Retriever is considered his most pop-influenced album.

He has said, "...my main objective is to try and stay out of the way of the song. I want to write songs that are good whether I'm singing them or not."

Success

In a July 1999 interview, a Triste Magazine contributor said the following: "Every record seems to get great reviews, but then your sales don't ever really match." Sexsmith responded,

It does get frustrating. Every record you make you think there's another chance to bat and you're always striking out. So it is frustrating. I don't want to be like Nick Drake and Tim Hardin. They never really had much success in their [lives]. ... All my heroes had big hits and success. I see progress in the way it's building, but it is not in the way the general public can detect. ... It's out of my hands. I'm a 35-year-old guy from Canada and I don't write groove oriented-music. So, I can't expect too much.

Sexsmith has since had quite a bit of success on Canadian adult oriented radio.

Discography

Albums

• 1991: Grand Opera Lane (independent, produced by Bob Wiseman, with The Uncool)
• 1995: Ron Sexsmith (Interscope/Warner, produced by Mitchell Froom)
• 1997: Other Songs (Interscope/Warner)
• 1999: Whereabouts (Interscope/Warner)
• 2001: Blue Boy (produced by Steve Earle and Ray Kennedy)
• 2002: Cobblestone Runway (produced by Martin Terefe)
• 2003: Rarities
• 2004: Retriever (Warner)
• 2005: Destination Unknown (V2, with Don Kerr, released as Sexsmith & Kerr)
• 2006: Time Being (Warner, also released in 2007 by Coppertree Records UK on 180g vinyl)
• 2008: Exit Strategy of the Soul (Yep Roc)
• 2011: Long Player Late Bloomer

Other contributions

• 1999: Bleecker Street: Greenwich Village In The 60's - "Reason To Believe"
• 2002: This Is Where I Belong - The Songs of Ray Davies & The Kinks - "This Is Where I Belong"
• 2002: WYEP Live and Direct: Volume 4 - On Air Performances - "Just My Heart Talking"
• 2002: Maybe This Christmas - "Maybe This Christmas"
• 2003: Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot - "Drifters"
• 2004: Beautiful Dreamer - The Songs of Stephen Foster - "Comrades Fill No Glass For Me"
• 2008: Northern Songs: Canada's Best and Brightest - "All in Good Time"
• 2008: Redeye 2008 Holiday Sampler - "Something To Hold On To (At Christmas)"

The Kelele Brothers

• Escape from Bover County (Gas Station Recordings)
• Has-Beens & Wives (Gas Station Recordings)

External links

• Ron Sexsmith official website
• Ron Sexsmith at IMDb
• Ron Sexsmith interview on CBC's The Hour