Creator Spotlight - Ron Sexsmith
The Canadian singer/songwriter speaks!
Everyone, here’s Ron Sexsmith! From his website:
At 56, Canada’s foremost well-healed troubadour has made a most unlikely discovery: domestic bliss. All it took, it turns out, was leaving the city he loved.
Following 30 years as an emblem of Toronto’s west end, Ron Sexsmith reluctantly uprooted to the serene hamlet of Stratford, Ontario, and the melodic, playful, theatrically vivacious Hermitage came gushing out.
“Almost immediately after arriving here I just felt this kind of enormous stress cloud evaporate and all these songs started coming,” recalls Sexsmith. “I’d walk along the river every day into town and feel like Huckleberry Finn or something. It had a really great effect on my overall state of being.”
This new zen can be heard from the first moments of Kinks-esque album opener, “Spring of the Following Year,” as the serene sound of birds situate the listener into Sexsmith’s state of grace.
When you were a teen what did you want to do when you "grew up", i.e. achieve the age of adulthood and independence?
I wanted to be a detective originally but the music came along and I dreamed of being a rock star like Elton John.
According to Wikipedia you started your first band at 14 and went on to play at clubs a few years after that. What drove you to do that: love of music or were you fulfilling other desires at the same time?
I started a band before any of us knew how to play called Paper Moon. We were just being teenagers...
By the time I graduated High School I had begun to get pretty good on the guitar and so my older brother got me an audition to play covers at a local bar. It was mostly to earn money to buy Christmas presents
In different interviews, Andy Partridge (of XTC) has said that his writing process can start with playing around with some chords or sounds to find something interesting and then he'll build based on whatever imagery is evoked by the chord. For example, if he plays a chord that makes him think of a storm cloud or a rainy day, that can lead him into creating a rain or storm themed song. Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) has been quoted as saying that if he finds an interesting spark or song idea, he works to ensure that he doesn't screw it up (his actual phrase is more colorful...) Does your songwriting process resemble these approaches at all? Or, more simply put, what's your songwriting process?
My song writing process is completely different from theirs...
I write mostly without an instrument when I'm walking around. I usually have stuff on my mind that I sing to myself as I walk. I call it the Winnie the Pooh method. Once I have an idea started then I'll sit at the piano or guitar and try to figure it out
Are you still in touch with Claudio, your collaborator from Out of the Duff? Did he keep making music?
We're still friends but he doesn't really make music anymore
How did you make the original connection with Elvis Costello, it appears he was a fan of your self-titled debut album? Is he someone you remain in contact with?
I met him in Nashville in early 1996. He had already been talking about my record and so we hit it off.
Later that year we toured Japan and around America as well. And yes, we're still good friends in fact he just emailed me yesterday.
In some ways I would describe you as a musician's musician or a songwriter's songwriter, in the sense that you seem to collaborate a lot with other musicians while still recording and releasing your own music - my sense is that you are well regarded by your musician peers. Is this collaboration a kind of necessary thing in the music business or is it more serendipitous, a case of encountering someone either personally or professionally and deciding it would be cool to work together?
I prefer to write on my own and in fact, I have a no co-writing rule for my own records. But I have enjoyed co-writing with other artists occasionally as well as playing and or singing on their records.
Are there any living musicians that you haven't worked with that you'd like to work with?
Um.... Maybe Joy Oladokun
Paying the rent (or mortgage), keeping the lights on and food on the table is something most people have to deal with one way or another, and I'm sure it's no different for the vast majority of musicians and performers. Without necessarily going into details, how much of those concerns factor into your day to day or work life?
I have had my share of financial stress and I guess I still do but I'm lucky for the most part to make a living and to have survived this crazy business
I'm guessing that you've been in the music business in some way, shape or form for close to 40 years.
That's right!
I'm surmising that you haven't been able to perform much for the past three years but it seems that you're touring now (and you have a new record coming out in a few months). How does it feel to be in front of audiences again?
It feels like a miracle and a great relief. I felt quite useless during Covid19 cos the one thing that I'm s'posed to be good at I wasn't able to do
What's one aspect of the life of a professional musician that most people wouldn't know about or appreciate?
Um, for me, it's been meeting most of my heroes.
Was the process of writing Deer Life something you enjoyed, something you hated, or something between the two? Any plans for more books?
I enjoyed it but it was the hardest writing assignment I ever gave myself. I'd like to write another one but I probably won't. I'm hoping to turn "Deer Life" into a musical.
Your Twitter posts provide some welcome and refreshing levity to a lot of people. Most people don't put their initials on the end of all posts... how did that start? Is there more than 1 person managing your Twitter account?
The RS started cos my management was running the account and I wanted to let people know when it was me.
Final question: pretend you wake up one morning and discover that the Internet has been destroyed. What's the first thing that you do?
Rejoice!
Thanks to Ron Sexsmith for agreeing to this interview! Ron has recently released the album Hermitage and is touring again, fall of 2022.
Great interview! :D
Wonderful as always Mark! I don't know that I've heard Ron's music before, so it's time to hit up Spotify 👍