Da es keinen eigenen Ron Sexsmith Thread unter Solokünstler gibt packe ich hier einen Artikel rein, den ich auf der The_Ryan_Adams_Homepage@yahoogroups.com gefunden habe:
Singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith starts to wonder whether success will
ever find himBy JUSTIN GLANVILLE
NEW YORK — When he was a little boy, Ron Sexsmith was certain he
would be a rock star. He worked hard at the dream. There were the
long hours spent alone in his bedroom, listening to the Kinks and
struggling to learn seventh chords on his guitar. There was the
constant gigging, as he got older, in his hometown of St. Catharines,
Canada.There was also destiny: He shares a birthday with Elvis Presley.
„When I was a little kid, that was like a bolt of light: I was born
on the same day as Elvis!“ he says. „You have this idea in your head
that it’s meant to be.“Yet despite endorsements from the likes of Paul McCartney and Elvis
Costello and nearly unanimous critical raves for his five albums,
Sexsmith is still far from fame. „I’m 38 now, and I’m certainly not
old, but in this industry sometimes I feel my time is running out to
make a big impression,“ he says.Sexsmith’s latest album, „Cobblestone Runway,“ was released in
October to rhapsodic critical response. His songwriting ranges from
neo-gospel to Beatlesque pop, with subtly trendy production by Martin
Terefe.So far, though, the disc hasn’t exactly set the charts afire. It’s
sold less than 5,000 copies in the United States, and radio
programmers have ignored the first single, a contemporary doo-wop
number called „These Days.“That pattern _ of ecstatic press followed by disappointing sales _
has repeated itself each time Sexsmith puts out a disc. (His highest
sales were for his sophomore disc, „Other Songs,“ which sold 23,000
domestically.) It’s beginning to discourage him.„Each record that comes out that doesn’t connect to a wider
audience, it makes it harder to continue, just because it costs money
to tour and to make records,“ he says. „It does really feel like
every record I make could be my last.“Not that Sexsmith is on the brink of a career change: He’s in the
middle of a world tour to promote „Cobblestone Runway.“ He played
small U.S. clubs in November and will return to open for Coldplay in
January and February.Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin, is another famous Sexsmith fan.
He appears on Sexsmith’s new CD, singing with him on „Gold in Them
Hills.“ It’s one of several guardedly optimistic tracks on the album
_ „Former Glory“ and „Up the Road“ are others.Sexsmith says he wrote those songs for himself, to help him through
the rough months leading up to the recording of „Cobblestone“ last
year. At the time, he was not only searching for a new major-label
record deal after being dropped by Interscope (eventually, Nettwerk
America stepped forward torelease the disc in the United States), but
had just separated from his wife of 15 years.„I was living on my own for the first time in 15 years, and I didn’t
have a record deal,“ he says. „I felt like I was starting over. So I
really needed some uplifting and comforting music.“Over coffee before a recent solo show at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan,
Sexsmith looks every bit the struggling musician. His hair is a cloud
of tangles, his sweater _ a patterned cardigan that might have been
rescued from the bottom of a hamper _ threadbare. „Do you like my
sweater?“ he asks, face deadpan, absently pulling the frayed sleeves
over his hands. „I’ve had it for awhile, as you can see.“In person and in performance, he’s almost painfully self-conscious,
avoiding eye contact and making jokes about himself. „Am I singing
all right?“ he asked the crowd at a recent gig. „I try to hit some of
the notes.“He displays little of the bad-boy attitude that Americans seem to
crave in their rock stars, and he concedes that might be a factor in
his lack of commercial success. (His profile is higher in Canada,
although he describes his following even there as „cult.“)„I just never felt hip. It’s a lot hipper to be a Ryan Adams fan
than a Ron Sexsmith fan,“ he says, referring to the alt-country hero
whose „Gold“ album was a sleeper hit last year. „He’s angrier or
whatever it is.„I hung out with him in Toronto and I remember he kind of got mad at
his band for some reason _ we were out for drinks _ and he threw some
money on the table and stormed out. I can’t really relate to acting
that way.“Sexsmith says his humbleness stems partly from being Canadian.
„Coming from Canada, we object to people who try to put on airs or
act like rock stars. If we see someone wearing sunglasses indoors, we
go, ‚oh, give me a break.“‚Some of his favorite artists are fellow Canadians: Neil Young, Joni
Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Rufus Wainwright. „I love Rufus
Wainwright,“ Sexsmith says. „He’s not selling a huge amount of
records either, but his profile seems to be a lot bigger than mine.
And again it makes me wonder, what am I doing wrong?“That may be an unanswerable question, but there are some theories.
During the female singer-songwriter boom of the mid-1990s, which saw
artists such as Alanis Morissette and Jewel shoot to fame, Sexsmith’s
friend Sarah McLachlan was convinced that Americans simply couldn’t
handle a sensitive male balladeer.To help his case, McLachlan at one point considered featuring
Sexsmith as the sole male act at one of her Lilith Fair music
festivals. „There was talk of me going up in a dress at one of the
shows, which I was totally up for,“ Sexsmith says. „I thought it
would be funny. But then that didn’t happen.“In recent years, though, male bards such as Beck, Adams and David Gray
have achieved impressive sales.Alison Pember, director of marketing for Nettwerk America, speculates
that Sexsmith has trouble getting radio airplay because his style is
unclassifiable _ a mixture of pop, folk and soul. „He doesn’t fit in
a box,“ she says.So Pember has been hard at work placing his songs in TV shows and
movies, as well as distributing free Sexsmith sampler CDs in coffee
houses and bookstores. She says the effort has piqued interest.Still, Pember predicts widespread recognition might be late in coming
for Sexsmith. „He’s one of those people, like Nick Drake, where
people will look back and say, ‚why wasn’t he appreciated more in his
time?“‚
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Captain Beefheart to audience: Is everyone feeling all right? Audience: Yeahhhhh!!! awright...!!! Captain Beefheart: That's not a soulful question, that's a medical question. It's too hot in here.