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 of his own material until 1985. Thus began his music career. Some of the same artists that inspired Sexsmith –Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and John Hiatt—are now people whom he himself has won the praise of.

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.

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 both Rod Stewart and Feist.

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."