Ron Sexsmith

This is for all non-EC or peripheral-EC topics. We all know how much we love talking about 'The Man' but sometimes we have other interests.
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martinfoyle
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Ron Sexsmith

Post by martinfoyle »

Here's an excellent update piece about Ron
http://thisisyork.co.uk/york/whatson/YO ... USIC1.html
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DrJ
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Post by DrJ »

Only two weeks until Ron plays Dublin again... happyhappyjoyjoy...

(NB Foyle Brothers! The Ambassador is now all seater)

DrJ
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Cool, cool, cool. Two nights at the folk festival, not one, and two LPs to record. Wonderful news.
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BlueChair
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Post by BlueChair »

Hard to believe it was over a year ago since I was entertained by a free Ron Sexsmith concert on Toronto's harbour....

Oh well, this summer it was a free Elvis show.. can't complain.
selfmademug

Post by selfmademug »

Y'all'll have ta tell me how these shows go. I'd so love to see him do more than the short set I caught at the Paradise a few months back, but that was great. I was so in love with the song RIVERBED and he ended with it, which blew my mind.

He's a gift, and this board gave him to me. Thanks to him and you!!

Signed, Grateful Mug
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Post by martinfoyle »

Elvis is obviously not the only one in love these days.
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ro ... ssage/6265
-From: "Amanda" <earl_amanda@h...>
Date: Sun Feb 15, 2004 10:14 am
Subject: Last night's concert

-Ron's Valentine concert brought warmth to Ottawa's cold winter
night. The National Library Auditorium was packed with people
arriving as early as 6:30 pm to snap up the last of the tickets.

The opening act was local singer/songwriter, Alise Marlane, who I
believe had been on stage with Ron at the Folk Festival in the
summer during one of the songwriters' circles. She has a strong
bluesy/folky voice, beautiful melodies and lyrics, and her guitar
playing is skillful and soulful. Most of her songs dealt with
nature she encounters in the beautiful Gatineau Hills of Quebec, and
of course, love. One song was an ode to the covered bridge in nearby
Wakefield, Quebec destroyed by fire and then lovingly rebuilt
through the funds of the townsfolk. Her debut CD has just come out,
and was produced by Ottawa folk hero, Ian Tamblyn.

After a brief intermission, Ron walked on stage in an elegant blue
suit (blue in the light, could have been black). He wore a heart
button which he told us was one of his sweety's band buttons. He
was surprised that we didn't have anything more romantic to do on
Valentine's Day, but judging from all the couples around us holding
hands, this was a very romantic evening for all of us.

Ron opened with Cobblestone Runway's uplifting "Up The Road". As
avid fans, my husband and I were seated front row center which was
fantastic, but all seats in the National Library are wonderful.

One of the many highlights of the concert was Ron's performance of
Crosby's "Moonlight Becomes You" on Glenn Gould's piano. This song
is featured on the new Starbucks compilation, Sweetheart. Yes, going
back in time, I can see Ron as a 40s crooner very easily. He
serenaded us beautifully. Ron joked with the audience a bit,
playing snippets from Elton John songs like "Goodbye Yellow Brick
Road."

Ron sang a variety of songs from many of his CDs,
including "Lebanon, Tennessee" and "Wastin' Time" from his self-
titled CD, "Thinking Out Loud" and "Strawberry Blonde" from "Other
Songs;" "Beautiful View" and the audience request, "Seem To Recall"
from "Whereabouts;" "This Song," "Tell Me Again" and "Just My Heart
Talkin'" from Blue Boy; "Former Glory", "Disappearing Act", "Gold in
Them Hills", "Hearts Desire" and "Up the Road" from "Cobblestone
Runway;" "On A Whim", "Tears Behind the Shade", and my
favourite, "Blade of Grass" from Rarities; "Hard Bargain," "Tomorrow
in Her Eyes" and another song (I think) from Retriever. He surprised
the audience by sending Tomorrow In Her Eyes out to his fiancée,
making the concert a truly romantic Valentine's treat. We all
clapped our best wishes for the couple.

Ron also sang Brian Wilson's Love and Mercy and performed it on the
piano. It was a fitting and beautiful choice.

He was clapped back on stage for an encore and finished the evening
dedicating his last song to Johnny Cash, June Carter-Cash, Warren
Zevon and Robert Palmer. "Speaking With The Angel" always brings
tears to my eyes. Last night, I wasn't the only one.

I won't be attending the upcoming Sexsmith/Bare Naked Ladies concert
at the Corel Centre, but I'm sure it will be fantastic. Ron's voice
is in fine form, and it is always a joy to hear and watch him live.
Judging from the reaction of the crowd, Ron has an avid fan base
here in Ottawa. He always manages to satisfy, and to leave us
wanting more all at the same time.

Best wishes to everyone, and happy Valentine's Day! Thanks again Ron!

Amanda in Ottawa (surprisingly warm, on this cold winter's night
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AlmostBlue
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Post by AlmostBlue »

I had heard that Elcis told Paul McCartney about Ron. Ron was staying close to Paul's home, and then Elvis brought him over. (not that this is even worth mentioning - oh well, here is the text of an interview)

http://www.seemagazine.com/Issues/2003/0911/mus1.htm

SEE: You meet tons of other famous people. Who was the most memorable?

Ron: There were two. Paul McCartney was the first one, because it wasn’t just meeting him, it was actually going to his house and eating breakfast and playing music with him.
SEE: What does Paul McCartney serve for breakfast?

Ron: This was back in ’96 when Linda was still alive, and she made everyone breakfast. It was a veggie breakfast: veggie sausages and things, and eggs. I think they were real eggs, probably free-range eggs. It was Sunday morning and everyone was still kind of waking up, and I think Paul was even still in his pajamas.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

And I thought Macca only had 'scrambled eggs' for breakfast...
martinfoyle
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Post by martinfoyle »

What sounds like an excellent recording of a recent Ron gig is available here.
http://www.easytree.org/torrents-detail ... 2&dllist=1
invisible Pole
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Post by invisible Pole »

I have just read about the "breakfast at McCartney's" story in the latest (or the one before) issue of Record Collector (there's a 3-page feature on Ron there).
Apparently Ron was paying a short visit to Chris Difford, and as Chris lives just a few hundred yards from Paul's place he decided to take Ron and introduce him to Paul. (I didn't know they were such good pals).

In the feature/interview Ron is also saying that Elvis holding his (Ron's) first album on the cover of Mojo was probably the breaking point of his career, as it stirred a lot of interest in the music world, and gave him enough motivation to go ahead with his songwriting at a time when he had a lot of doubts and seriously considered giving up his career.

The whole article is very interesting so it would be great if anyone could scan it and paste it here.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Sounds like essential reading. I was inches away from Chris Difford in the foyer at the recent London gig. No sign of Macca though.
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invisible Pole
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Post by invisible Pole »

Lucky you, some of you !!!
Ron is going on tour and this is where he's going to play:

DATE CITY VENUE
May 23 Ottawa ON CANADA Tulip Festival Band, festival
May 27 Barcelona SPAIN Primavera Sound Band, festival
May 29 Ghent BELGIUM Handelsbeurs Band, headlining
May 30 Amsterdam NETHERLANDS Paradiso Band, headlining
June 4 Toronto ON CANADA Toronto Symphony Solo, with orchestra
July 1 Ottawa ON CANADA Majors Hill Band, festival
July 22-23 Calgary AB CANADA Calgary Folk Fest Band, festival
July 30 Regina SK CANADA Regina Folk Fest Solo, festival
August 11 Toronto ON CANADA Toronto Zoo Band, headlining

Blue Chair, can we count on your reports from Toronto ? (twice !!)
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BlueChair
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Post by BlueChair »

I shall do my best!

Not sure if you guys noticed by post in the Recent Gigs thread, but Ron was at the Glenn Tilbrook show here in Toronto last Sunday.
This morning you've got time for a hot, home-cooked breakfast! Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

That's not much of a European tour! Wish I could think of a reason for a work trip to Barcelona on that day...
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scielle
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Post by scielle »

The June 4th date is a fundraiser for the TSO and also features Oscar Peterson, fyi.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

For some reason I thought he was no longer with us. Must be getting on a bit now.
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Post by scielle »

Very much alive, at 79. (And living in Mississauga - why oh why?)
He even keeps an online journal: http://www.oscarpeterson.com/op/newjournalframe.html
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

What about his immaculately named drummer Ed Thigpen?
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invisible Pole
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Post by invisible Pole »

May 30, 2005
LATE BREAKING NEWS - WEBCAST: Tonight, Ron Sexsmith will perform at Paradiso, Amsterdam. This concert will be webcast live at Fabchannel.com and afterwards the concert will be included in their online archive. Both live and on demand the webcast are free for everybody to watch. The webcast starts at 10:30 PM CET - that's 4:30 PM EDT at http://www.ronsexsmith.fabchannel.com, direct link to the page at Fabchannel.com.


Now I have to set my clock to remind me about this at 10:25. :D
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invisible Pole
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Post by invisible Pole »

Brilliant !!!
I started watching 25 minutes into the show but I still managed to catch the following:
Not About To Lose
Tomorrow In Her Eyes
Gold In Them Hills
In A Flash
three new songs
Former Glory
Hard Bargain
Pretty Little Cemetery
These Days
Wishing Well
Thinking Out Loud
Secret Heart
For A Moment
and encore :
God Loves Everyone
Bobby Jean (yep, a great rendition of Bruce Springsteen's song !!)
Miracle In Itself

Just two people on stage - Ron playing acoustic guitar and occasional piano, and his long-time friend Don Kerr on drums and cello. The three new songs, from the upcoming "Sexsmith And Kerr" album, were excellent country tunes, written and sung- as Ron himself said - in the vein of The Louvin Brothers. They sure made me want to grab the new album as soon as it is released ("in a few weeks", according to Ron).
All in all, brilliant show !
It will be archived here : http://www.fabchannel.com , so you should still be able to watch it. Enjoy !
If you don't know what is wrong with me
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Thanks, IP. great to know about that. Missed it live, downloaded Media Player (anti-Mac Paradiso!), checked it was working with Ray Lamontagne, but then it is having a directory problem with the file. :cry: Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

Great setlist! New songs! Saw mention of the LP on the RS site. Hope I can watch tomorrow.
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invisible Pole
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Post by invisible Pole »

At the moment they are "editing and encoding the concert" and "will put it in the archive as soon as possible"
Check it out tomorrow, Otis.
I surely will as I did not see the first 25 minutes.
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Otis Westinghouse
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

They're still at it!
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invisible Pole
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Post by invisible Pole »

It's available now.

And he did "Strawberry Blonde" too !!!!
If you don't know what is wrong with me
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