Ron Sexsmith

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:42 am

From Toronto weekly Now Magazine:

RON SEXSMITH Time Being (Warner) Rating: NNNN

Though his songwriting prowess is beyond question, Ron Sexsmith's Achilles heel is the fact that, regardless of which producers he works with or high-profile guest players he recruits, the guy always sounds like Ron Sexsmith. As lovely as his idiosyncratic, sighing cadence can be, that vocal tic tends to make most of his songs sound a little too similar. Though Time Being happily reunites the revered songsmith with Mitchell Froom (who produced Sexsmith's best albums), the really exciting news is that our man actually takes some vocal risks â€“ and sounds like he's having fun doing it! On the stark, folksy Cold Hearted Wind, Sexsmith channels the ghost of Johnny Cash, quavering vibrato and all, while I Think We're Lost finds him doing his best Joe Pernice. And though he doesn't quite muster the Tom Waits rattle he aspires to on The Grim Trucker, album-closer And Now The Day Is Done features a beautiful, open balladeer croon. Froom's production is surprisingly restrained, favouring Byrdsian jangle and soulful folk arrangements over elaborate loops, and having Elvis Costello sidemen (drummer Pete Thomas and bassist Davey Gallagher) as a rhythm section means that, even at their most melancholy, Sexsmith's tunes have a driving pulse.

Sarah Liss
NOW | MAY 18 - 24, 2006 | VOL. 25 NO. 38

Note: I've already notified Sarah Liss (one of Now's Music Editors, imagine that! She doesn't even put song titles in quotations!) of her error with Davey's last name

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:44 pm

Despite the sloppiness, I'd go along with that. There's a certain sense as you listen to the record that he's never going to really surprise you with new directions, but it's still all very high calibre, and some of it is truly great: Snow Angel, I Think We're Lost and the beautiful solo with acoustic And Now The Day Is Done. I can almost feel the lump in my throat for when he plays that live.

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Tue May 23, 2006 6:33 pm

Ron made a taped appearance on John Kelly's Mystery Train show on Irish radio last night (The whole show was on tape since Kelly was off in some private members club being wined and dined, and no, I'm not bitter) Pleasant enough chat, no startling revelations, though I like the fact that Ron walked to the studio in LA each day while he was making his new album. Only Ron would be pragmatic enough to walk in LA.

He did two acoustic performances and here are mp3 of them

Reason To Love

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... 6D51998746

and

All In Good Time

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... 060B067AE1

If anyone wants a FLAC or WAV copy of the full appearance, it was only 19 minutes btw, feel free to contact me at

martinlfoyle@gmail.com

Sorry, torrenting is not an option for me

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Fri May 26, 2006 1:26 am

Two clips from the "Leonard Cohen tribute".

"Heart With No Companion"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OLUDV_ ... 20sexsmith

"So Long Marianne", with Leonard Cohen taking the lead vocal in a few verses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e842XqQA ... 20sexsmith

F...ing brilliant !!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Fri May 26, 2006 1:37 am

Thanks, fellas. A treat for me to check out this weekend. Glad you're going to see him in Dublin, Martin. Can we swap notes?

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 6:54 pm

I'm just in from a great show by Ron here in Dublin. In a very packed , very hot venue he and guitarist 'n bass player played nearly two hours of songs. All parts of his career were represented and , honestly , not one song dragged. He was in great voice , kept the talk brief and witty. He joked about how the heat might make him take of his jacket but the timing would have to be right ; he hoped to follow Freddy Mercury's example and judge the moment . Someone shouted that Hugh Hefner wanted the jacket - wine red with velvet collars - back ; Ron commented that , yes, his house did seem , now and then , like the Playboy mansion.

Martin noted the setlist for a Sexsmith forum ; doubtlessly he'll be able to, eventually , tell all here also.

johnfoyle · Post by **johnfoyle** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 5:22 am

Martin noted the setlist for a Sexsmith forum

see

http://www.ronsexsmith.com/ronsBB/phpBB ... php?t=1438

Post by **BlueChair** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:50 am

On the most recent Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan, Bob spun "Teardrops in My Coffee" by Sexsmith/Kerr.

Post by **BlueChair** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:54 am

invisible Pole wrote:Two clips from the "Leonard Cohen tribute".

"Heart With No Companion"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OLUDV_ ... 20sexsmith

"So Long Marianne", with Leonard Cohen taking the lead vocal in a few verses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e842XqQA ... 20sexsmith

F...ing brilliant !!

Thanks for letting me re-experience that, pole

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:16 am

BlueChair wrote:On the most recent Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan, Bob spun "Teardrops in My Coffee" by Sexsmith/Kerr.

Here's a mp3 of Bob's intro

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... CB7520E7C9

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:54 pm

Interesting article found on Ron's site. Elvis producing Ron would be something else. Interesting to read of his input into Time Being. he gets a credit, of course. I noted the dedication to the memory of those two guys, and assumed one of them must have committed suicide, as And Now The Day Is Done seems a very straight response to such an event. Last time I saw Ron was soon after the death of a friend of mine, and Ron played In A Flash and totally choked me up.
*******************************************

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/n ... 68e51c693b

Sexsmith sings songs of hope
On his new album, the musician tackles time and mortality - two of his close friends recently died - but the album isn't all sad

* * * *
BERNARD PERUSSE, The Gazette
Published: Tuesday, May 16, 2006

On his jangly new rocker All In Good Time, Ron Sexsmith sings optimistically about bad times yielding to good ones. Appropriately, the song's electric shimmer evokes the Byrds, who also tackled life's cycles in 1965 with Turn! Turn! Turn! That folk-rock classic also reached back - all the way to the Old Testament's often-pessimistic Book of Ecclesiastes.

Struggling for hope in the face of emotional despair didn't start with Ecclesiastes, nor will it end with Sexsmith's 10th disc, Time Being, out today. In a telephone interview last week, Sexsmith said time and mortality have been on his mind lately, largely because two of his longtime friends, Robert Purdie and Daren Tucker, died during the past couple of years. Time Being is dedicated to their memory.

"These were friends who were like a little posse in high school," the 42-year-old singer said. "Robert had a kid the same age as mine, so that was really hard on everyone involved. It seemed strange to me to be going to funerals for people who are the same age as me."

But it's hard to imagine Sexsmith creating an out-and-out bleak piece of work. As usual, a spiritually based sense of promise peeks in. "I've always tried to hold on to an element of hope - just for myself, even. A lot of my songs are songs to remind myself that all is not lost," he said.

It seems as if some have missed that point. "I've been accused of writing sad songs, but I think I've been a little misunderstood," Sexsmith said. "I think there is a lot of hope in my music. There's humour. As a 42-year-old man, you try to write songs that cover the full range of emotions and reflect all sides of whatever subject you're dealing with."

Still, when Sexsmith noticed the recurring themes on Time Being, he had second thoughts. "When I finished these songs, I was sitting on them for a while. I was actually worried about them, because (the 2004 album) Retriever was mostly upbeat love songs and very poppy - and that was the one I had a (commercial) breakthrough on. I was worried about following that up with a bunch of dark songs about death and things like that," he said, chuckling.

Among those who cheered him on was Elvis Costello, an early supporter whose public enthusiasm had helped launch Sexsmith's career in 1995.

"I was talking to Elvis online about the new songs," Sexsmith said. "I wasn't sure whether I should go back to the drawing board or what, and he said he'd love to hear the songs and give me his two cents. So I made a demo, and he was the first person to hear them. About a week later, I get this long email from him, with production notes on each song."

According to Sexsmith, Costello's suggestions were very minimalistic. "I was very intrigued by all his ideas, but they involved next to no other instruments - guitar and voice, with just a few little things here and there," he said.

While Sexsmith expressed hope that the ever-busy Costello might one day produce him, this project ended up in the hands of Mitchell Froom, who had also sat behind the board for three of his early albums. "Mitchell heard it in a different way. He heard it as a bigger record, with a panoramic thing about it," Sexsmith said.

Sexsmith is hoping Time Being will continue to bring what was once a small, rabid cult into the mainstream. Until recently, Sexsmith shows seemed to draw the same diehards, but now it's not unusual to hear one of his songs chime away in the background at a family restaurant.

Nor does it seem so surprising to hear that the two-time Juno award winner sang Elvis Presley's Don't Be Cruel with superstar crooner Michael Buble at Warner Bros.'s post-Juno party this year. "We got up and kind of rocked that out," Sexsmith said. "He's a great guy with a great sense of humour."

Higher profile notwithstanding, Sexsmith still talks like a fan. During the interview, he seemed as interested in asking about Ray Davies's stop in Montreal as he was in promoting his own album, and sounded amazed at his newfound friendship with Canadian pop icon Andy Kim. The two are working on a new Kim album. "It's just so surreal having him in my life," Sexsmith said.

If his own fans might soon have to face shows that no longer look like fan-club gatherings (Sexsmith recently played Toronto's 2,800-seat Massey Hall), the singer has no regrets. "I was pretty happy before with the way things were going, but I never set out to be a cult artist," he said. "I always tried to reach as many people as possible. A lot of my heroes were very successful commercially, so I was always wondering whether I was born at the wrong time. But maybe my time is coming."

Time Being is in stores today.

John · Post by **John** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 2:30 pm

Amazingly there is an interview with Ron on my local BBC radio station (usually rubbish) on Saturday on Spencer Leigh's programme at 18.00.

See
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/whatson/s ... y=Saturday

You can listen live here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/radiomerseyside/

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:30 pm

Two seconds of live is enough for me! Thanks, though. Is On The Beat (nice EC ref) available on Listen Again? Don't want to miss Trinidad v Sweden.

John · Post by **John** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 3:53 pm

Don't know, Otis - I doubt it.

Not sure what came first, this programme or Elvis' song. The show has been going for a very long time.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 6:25 pm

For setlist in London and me warbling on a bit about how much I love the man, see this:

http://ronsexsmith.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6387#6387

scielle · Post by **scielle** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:16 am

So I saw Ron last night, at the Montreal Jazz Fest jam sessions. He sang But Not For Me and Witchcraft with the house band. He fumbled with some of the notes, but it was still pretty cool to see it so close to the stage with - oh, I don't know - a hundred people in the room, perhaps. The rhythm section from the Kenny Garrett show earlier in the evening was there too - who were just killing - as was Etta James' band the night before. And Steve Turre (of SNL band fame, currently on tour with McCoy Tyner who also had a show last night) played a Miles tune on sea shells. Yes, sea shells, or conchs. Amazing stuff, especially when playing harmony, two shells at a time, and blowing with his nose.
Anyhow, by the time I was leaving at 3am, Ron was still at the bar with some couple, giving them relationship advice (or at least that's how it sounded from the brief snippet of conversation as I walked by...)

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:08 pm

Was he singing 'Never give up on him/her' to them? Sounds like a great night!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:09 pm

Ohboyohboyohboyohboy

Loads of new tour dates, including his biggest tour of England since I've been a fan:

http://www.ronsexsmith.com/tourdates.php

And at last he's playing Cambridge at the excellent Junction. I just can't wait. Stand up, smallish. Going to get everyone I know to go. Heaven.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:41 pm

Shucks, on FRIDAY he's playing in Wolfeboro, NH, a small resort town I've visited once a year for the past 12 years or so. Can't go. Poo. I would've had to go to a folk festival, anyway, something I quite dread...

Post by **BlueChair** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:31 pm

What's wrong with folk festivals?

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:50 pm

The festival part. And some of the folk, too. You couldn't find a worse-dressed or worse-groomed bunch of people at a librarians' conference. The librarians, though, are not quite as EARNEST, God love 'em. Gag me with a smudge stick.

Also, it is a likely site at which to encounter Morris Dancers.

Just one Mug's opinion. If you'd spent most of your waking hours of the past 18 years in the folk hub that is Harvard Square, AND been married to a Deadhead for the same amount of time, you might feel the same.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:59 pm

Mechanical Grace wrote:If you'd spent most of your waking hours of the past 18 years in the folk hub that is Harvard Square, AND been married to a Deadhead for the same amount of time, you might feel the same.

Does that "Soul Matrix" hippy couple still play their execrable new age crap outside the T Station in Harvard Square?

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:15 am

I remember those guys. Scary. Haven't seen 'em in years, though. Maybe they got a record deal.

The main 'entertainment' in the Square these days are the viciously cloying Spare Change vendors and the chipper, ubiquitous MassPIRG canvassers. Sometimes I want to kick them in the shins. I've got nothing against them, really--they're there to hit up the social-conscience-tourist crowd-- it's just fucking annoying to have righteous white upper middle-class nineteen-year-olds asking you for money on the 3 blocks that you are forced to traverse ten times a day, day in and day out. I feel like I should get some sort of badge of immunity.

scielle · Post by **scielle** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 12:19 pm

Ron was on CBC Radio's Simply Sean this morning. I've captured it for posterity here (about 15 minutes, interview + All In Good Time + I Will):

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?a ... EF07D5B067

Fishfinger king · Post by **Fishfinger king** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:17 am

Otis Westinghouse wrote:
And at last he's playing Cambridge at the excellent Junction. I just can't wait. Stand up, smallish. Going to get everyone I know to go. Heaven.

The Arts centre in Norwich is also an excellent small venue, Otis, if you've never been there and can't wait a few more days. I seem to have bought ticket number one!

Not sure that's happened before.