14-02-2013, 13:51
online listen
too laid back for me
suffers from that sameness thing
nothing reaches a like
Canada must like him as he's been around awhile
1.3 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Snake Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atr3cMw-R9c
released Feb 5th, 2013
![[Image: MI0003480103.jpg?partner=allrovi.com]](http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_250/MI0003/480/MI0003480103.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
Bio - from allmusic
The earnest work of boyish Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith won acclaim not from only
critics but from fellow performers like Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and John Hiatt -- some
of the same artists, ironically enough, who initially inspired Sexsmith himself to become a
musician. Born in 1964 and raised in the Niagara Falls area, he started his first band at the
age of 14, and within a few years earned his first regular gig at an area club. Influenced by
Pete Seeger, he began making the rounds on the folk circuit, but soon decided to focus his
attentions on becoming a songwriter. After moving to the Toronto area, Sexsmith formed the
Uncool and began issuing his own material in 1985 with the cassette Out of the Duff, followed a
year later by There's a Way. He continued performing while maintaining a day job as a courier
but did not release anything more until 1991's Grand Opera Lane, recorded by Blue Rodeo's Bob
Wiseman. The collection of songs helped earn Sexsmith a songwriting contract and eventually a
recording deal with Interscope Records; teamed with producer Mitchell Froom, he released his
self-titled debut in 1995. A follow-up, Other Songs, appeared two years later. In 1999,
Sexsmith returned with Whereabouts, again produced by Froom. Three years later, Sexsmith inked
a deal with Nettwerk and released Cobblestone Runway in October 2002. His seventh album,
Retriever, followed two years later. In 2005, Sexsmith shifted creative gears with Destination
Unknown, a primarily acoustic album recorded in collaboration with longtime bandmate Don Kerr.
Time Being arrived in 2006. Two years later, Sexsmith released his ninth studio album, Exit
Strategy of the Soul, which was produced by Martin Terefe. His tenth album, Long Player Late
Bloomer, produced by Bob Rock and recorded at Sage and Sound Recording (Hollywood), The Orange
Lounge (Toronto), and The Warehouse Studio (Vancouver), appeared early in 2011. Sexsmith
returned to producer Mitchell Froom for his next release, Forever Endeavour, which arrived
early in 2013.
Album Review - from allmusic
Ron Sexsmith was just born too late (1964) to have the kind of commercial success his approach
and songwriting truly deserves -- he would have cleaned up as a singer and songwriter in the
1970s, but as popular music headed down a groove-oriented path that put little or no premium on
intelligent lyrics or sweeping, aching melodies as time and the pop charts stomped, rocked, and
rapped into the 21st century, Sexsmith has to be content with being a critics' darling. He is,
after all, a very fine songwriter, with a folky base that gives his best compositions the feel
of timelessness, and he is also a very confessional songwriter, not hiding behind emotional
tricks or gimmicks. Throw in a very heavy streak of melancholy, and it all adds up to never
hearing a Sexsmith song on the radio. This set, with the punning title of Forever Endeavour,
finds Sexsmith even more melancholy than usual, thanks to a throat cancer scare in 2011 (the
lump doctors found in his throat turned out to be benign), a situation that turned him toward
thinking thoughts of mortality. Working again with producer Mitchell Froom, who produced his
first three albums, and then another in 2006, Sexsmith delivers a new batch of songs that have
no chance whatsoever of making a singles chart. That's the fault of the times, though, and not
Sexsmith, who simply does what he's done since his under-the-radar career began in 1985. Froom
helps out with unassuming but appropriately muted orchestration, applying brass, woodwinds, and
strings on several songs, but the overall tone of the album is autumnal, sparse, and acoustic.
Highlights include the folky "Sneak Out the Back Door," the jaunty, joyous-sounding, and lovely
"Blind Eye" (which sounds just a little bit like vintage Donovan without the hippy-dippy
lyrics), and the oddly hopeful (for Sexsmith, anyway) "Life After a Broken Heart," although the
whole album feels like a uniform meditation on aging, mortality, and the affirming wish to go
forward in spite of what's been.
Track Listing
1. Nowhere To Go
2. Nowhere Is
3. If Only Avenue
4. Snake Road
5. Blind Eye
6. Lost In Thoughts
7. Sneak Out The Back Door
8. Back Of My Hand
9. Deepens With Time
10. Me Myself And Wine
11. She Does My Heart Good
12. The Morning Light
too laid back for me
suffers from that sameness thing
nothing reaches a like
Canada must like him as he's been around awhile
1.3 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Snake Road
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Atr3cMw-R9c
released Feb 5th, 2013
Bio - from allmusic
The earnest work of boyish Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith won acclaim not from only
critics but from fellow performers like Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and John Hiatt -- some
of the same artists, ironically enough, who initially inspired Sexsmith himself to become a
musician. Born in 1964 and raised in the Niagara Falls area, he started his first band at the
age of 14, and within a few years earned his first regular gig at an area club. Influenced by
Pete Seeger, he began making the rounds on the folk circuit, but soon decided to focus his
attentions on becoming a songwriter. After moving to the Toronto area, Sexsmith formed the
Uncool and began issuing his own material in 1985 with the cassette Out of the Duff, followed a
year later by There's a Way. He continued performing while maintaining a day job as a courier
but did not release anything more until 1991's Grand Opera Lane, recorded by Blue Rodeo's Bob
Wiseman. The collection of songs helped earn Sexsmith a songwriting contract and eventually a
recording deal with Interscope Records; teamed with producer Mitchell Froom, he released his
self-titled debut in 1995. A follow-up, Other Songs, appeared two years later. In 1999,
Sexsmith returned with Whereabouts, again produced by Froom. Three years later, Sexsmith inked
a deal with Nettwerk and released Cobblestone Runway in October 2002. His seventh album,
Retriever, followed two years later. In 2005, Sexsmith shifted creative gears with Destination
Unknown, a primarily acoustic album recorded in collaboration with longtime bandmate Don Kerr.
Time Being arrived in 2006. Two years later, Sexsmith released his ninth studio album, Exit
Strategy of the Soul, which was produced by Martin Terefe. His tenth album, Long Player Late
Bloomer, produced by Bob Rock and recorded at Sage and Sound Recording (Hollywood), The Orange
Lounge (Toronto), and The Warehouse Studio (Vancouver), appeared early in 2011. Sexsmith
returned to producer Mitchell Froom for his next release, Forever Endeavour, which arrived
early in 2013.
Album Review - from allmusic
Ron Sexsmith was just born too late (1964) to have the kind of commercial success his approach
and songwriting truly deserves -- he would have cleaned up as a singer and songwriter in the
1970s, but as popular music headed down a groove-oriented path that put little or no premium on
intelligent lyrics or sweeping, aching melodies as time and the pop charts stomped, rocked, and
rapped into the 21st century, Sexsmith has to be content with being a critics' darling. He is,
after all, a very fine songwriter, with a folky base that gives his best compositions the feel
of timelessness, and he is also a very confessional songwriter, not hiding behind emotional
tricks or gimmicks. Throw in a very heavy streak of melancholy, and it all adds up to never
hearing a Sexsmith song on the radio. This set, with the punning title of Forever Endeavour,
finds Sexsmith even more melancholy than usual, thanks to a throat cancer scare in 2011 (the
lump doctors found in his throat turned out to be benign), a situation that turned him toward
thinking thoughts of mortality. Working again with producer Mitchell Froom, who produced his
first three albums, and then another in 2006, Sexsmith delivers a new batch of songs that have
no chance whatsoever of making a singles chart. That's the fault of the times, though, and not
Sexsmith, who simply does what he's done since his under-the-radar career began in 1985. Froom
helps out with unassuming but appropriately muted orchestration, applying brass, woodwinds, and
strings on several songs, but the overall tone of the album is autumnal, sparse, and acoustic.
Highlights include the folky "Sneak Out the Back Door," the jaunty, joyous-sounding, and lovely
"Blind Eye" (which sounds just a little bit like vintage Donovan without the hippy-dippy
lyrics), and the oddly hopeful (for Sexsmith, anyway) "Life After a Broken Heart," although the
whole album feels like a uniform meditation on aging, mortality, and the affirming wish to go
forward in spite of what's been.
Track Listing
1. Nowhere To Go
2. Nowhere Is
3. If Only Avenue
4. Snake Road
5. Blind Eye
6. Lost In Thoughts
7. Sneak Out The Back Door
8. Back Of My Hand
9. Deepens With Time
10. Me Myself And Wine
11. She Does My Heart Good
12. The Morning Light
