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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Ron Sexsmith: The Canadian KG
Wednesday 10 January @ 16:26:37 |
  by NATHAN DEAN
Ron Sexsmith is to singer/songwriters what Kevin Garnett is to basketball players. At first blush it may seem that any similarities between an unassuming cherub-faced 43-year-old Canadian troubadour and a 30-year-old sure-fire Hall of Fame seven-footer would be few and far between. But look a little closer and the parallels between the two men become flat-out uncanny: Consistent high quality output, a tireless work ethic, the utmost respect of their profession's peers, a focus on fundamentals over flash. And of course, tragically, an inability to grasp the brass ring (for Garnett an NBA championship, for Sexsmith enough commercial success that he can finally move up from renting his Toronto home to owning it). If there's any justice in the world, then Time Being, Sexsmith's recently released ninth album of sophisticated pop with a surfeit of winning melodies in 13 years, will change all of that (and Allen Iverson will somehow end up a Timberwolf and get KG that ring he deserves).
Sexsmith's too busy keeping the creative fires burning, however, to pay much attention to the level of his latest album's sales or what indie-music micro-trend has blogs buzzing. "I wouldn't say that I'm a 'workaholic' but I am a bit compulsive about songwriting," admits Sexsmith. "I try to finish everything I start even if it seems frivolous because I'm afraid that if I don't entertain every idea that comes to me, maybe they'll stop coming. The pace of my album releases is also quite deceiving because some of these records have been recorded in the midst of touring and quite often, I'll have a new album written while I'm waiting for one to come out. So it's just me trying to stay ahead of myself."
Listening to Sexsmith's voluminous back catalog backs up his claim of bringing to fruition every songwriting impulse that comes his way. Sexsmith's sturdy catalog of tunes runs the gamut from Beach Boys styled bop to lazy country rock, traversing plenty of interesting terrain in between. The sole constants tend to be Sexsmith's warm croon and a tendency towards loping tempos. Every album boasts at least one failed experiment—on 2002's Cobblestone Runway it was the ham-glam faux disco stomp of "Dragonfly on Bay Street," on Time Being it's the slight trifle "Jazz at the Bookstore"—but it's a small price to pay for consistently adventurous and classy pop albums dressed up in engaging arrangements featuring everything from brass sections to penny whistles, banjos to steel drums. Time Being continues in this tradition, yet another delectable hodge-podge assembled with an eye for eleganceand an ear for melody.
Sexsmith's lyrical palette is similarly varied—he shifts deftly between folkie short-story teller, alternately upbeat or beat-up chronicler of matters of the heart, and, more recently, surveyor of the current cultural landscape. In the years following 9/11, Sexsmith has managed to pen some of the most affecting songs to deal with its aftermath, whether in his stirring plea for tolerance from 2002, "God Loves Everyone," or the more recent pessimistic tone of Time Being's "I Think We're Lost." "Lyrics in general have always been the hard part for me because I'm struggling to find the most direct way to say something—and not always successfully pulling it off," admits Sexsmith. "I think it is a bit harder though to write these sort of 'state of the world' songs because I'm not really a political person and the fear is that it'll come off sounding too naïve or forced. But it's hard not to respond when the world seems so messed up."
Ever since Elvis Costello shouted the praises of Sexsmith's self-titled major label debut in 1995 to anyone within earshot, going so far as to have himself photographed for the cover of Q Magazine while holding a copy of the disc, Sexsmith's been proclaimed a "songwriter's songwriter." This tag has always struck me as a backhanded compliment. Does it mean that Sexsmith's way with an artfully crafted chord change and witty lyrical insight is too abstract for the layperson who has never done more than fumble along with a Neil Young record to appreciate? That only someone who has spent hours wood-shedding their own tunes on a Gibson can fully appreciate how maddeningly talented the man must be to have written upwards of 130 songs in little more than a decade?
"I've gotten used to it I suppose," says Sexsmith of the hard-to-shake label brought on by having the likes of Costello, Paul McCartney and Steve Earle among his most ardent fans. "It's certainly not an insult but I'm not sure that it's a compliment. I'm just a pop singer/songwriter —that's a pretty accurate job description for you."
 As Sexsmith barrels along well into the second decade of his "job," he's clearly settled into an enviable artistic, if not commercial, zone. And although critics like myself will undoubtedly continue to lament that Sexsmith isn't a household name like so many of his admirers, he would prefer no tears be shed on his behalf. "I'm always reading about how unsuccessful I am compared to other artists," says Sexsmith. "I feel a great sense of relief that I got in the door when I did. I was 31 when my first record was released and now this is my tenth, I think. I have a growing audience all over the world, I've met most of my heroes, many of them have been quite supportive, and though I'm not 'rich,' I've been able to make a nice living doing something I love since 1994 and that in itself is successful to me. It's never been my dream to fill stadiums anyway. I don't think my music would work in places like that." ||
Ron Sexsmith performs on Wed., Jan. 17 at the Varsity Theater with opening act Kim Taylor. 8 p.m. $10. 18+. 1308 4th St. SE, Mpls. 612-604-0222. He'll also be playing a special in-store performance at the Electric Fetus that same Wed. at 5 p.m. 2000 4th Ave. S., Mpls. 612-870-9300. For more information on Ron Sexsmith check out his official website at ronsexsmith.com.
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