Ron Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith

Ronald Eldon Sexsmith (born 8 January 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. Although he has been involved in making music since he was 14 years old when he started his own band, he did not release the first recordings of his own material until 1985. Some of the same artists that inspired Sexsmith — Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and John Hiatt — are now people whose praise he has won.

Life

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, who was born in 1989.

Meanwhile, he worked as a courier, and released Grand Opera Lane in 1991. On the strength of this album he earned a contract which led to his self-titled album in 1995. The album received wider attention when it was praised by Elvis Costello, who Sexsmith later opened for. Between 1997 and 2001, Sexsmith released three more albums before the acclaimed Cobblestone Runway in 2002. Retriever, a more pop-oriented album than those before, 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.

In 2005, he released a collection of songs recorded with drummer Don Kerr during the production of Retriever, called Destination Unknown. Director Liz Marshall made a whimsical music video for the song "Listen", it was shot in and around Toronto's harbour with Sexsmith & Kerr paddling in a canoe and basking in the spring sunshine. The same year, he won a songwriter of the year Juno Award for "Whatever it Takes".

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, 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.

Personal life

Sexsmith has two children with his ex-wife Jocelyne: a son, Christopher (born in 1985); and a daughter, Evelyn (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 and half of the duo Jack and Ginger.

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."

Philosophy

Life

In a June 8th, 1999 interview, Rolling Stone contributor Kyle Bloom asked Sexsmith for the meaning of life. Sexsmith responded with the following:

The meaning of life is to experience and not to abstain. Religions have kind of messed everyone up because they operate on the business of fear. If you don't do this, you don't get in. We were given this thing called free will. The meaning is free will and what you choose to [do] with it.

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's 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.

Discography

Albums

• Grand Opera Lane (independent, 1991, produced by Bob Wiseman, with The Uncool)
• Ron Sexsmith (self-titled, Interscope/Warner, 1995, produced by Mitchell Froom)
• Other Songs (Interscope/Warner, 1997)
• Whereabouts (Interscope/Warner, 1999)
• Blue Boy (2001, produced by Steve Earle)
• Cobblestone Runway (2002, produced by Martin Terefe)
• Rarities (2003)
• Retriever (2004, Warner)
• Destination Unknown (2005, V2, with Don Kerr, released as Sexsmith & Kerr)
• Time Being (2006, Warner)
• Exit Strategy of the Soul (2008, Yep Roc)

The Kelele Brothers

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

External links

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