LANGERADO 2008 - MARTIN SEXTON

The second featured artist profile of the Langerado Music Festival is Martin Sexton. I recently stumbled upon this fabulous artists’ Myspace page and heard his named mentioned at many festivals of the past including Wakarusa and Dunegrass. I was blown away by the first few songs I was exposed to, and when I found out he was touring, I decided I wanted to promote Martin Sexton throughout the Royal Oak, MI area. After many emails back and fourth, I was finally given the opportunity to street team for Martin Sexton.

In this street teaming kit was Martin Sexton’s seventh album Seeds. This album is an inspirational folk message reminding people to keep on living. Highlights of the album begin from the first song “Happy,” a fun tune about … the obvious, to my favorite song “Failure,” a track that reinforces a lesson in manhood- ‘failure is not the worst thing’.

Martin Sexton has been writing and performing music for longer than some of the covered RFW artist in the past. Beginning in his hometown of Boston, Ma, he started playing music in 1996, and has expanded to touring music in festivals beyond the nations limits. His folk sound has compared him to the legendary Bob Dylan, with similarities resounding within his raspy voice and breath taking lyrics. Martin is most definitely on his game having recently won the Boston Music Award in Best Album for Seeds.

I recently saw Sexton on his latest tour. His set was truly inspiring, and the creativity of his sincerity makes you want to stay listening to him just a little longer than the run of the performance. Enjoy discovering Martin Sexton and remember, you can catch him next week at the Langerado Music Festival.

-Benjamin Landsman

For further information on Martin Sexton and the 2008 LANGERADO MUSIC FESTIVAL - Check out the following links:


MYSPACE
http://www.myspace.com/martinsexton

ARTIST WEBSITE
martinsexton.com

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John Mayer & Martin Sexton - Can't Stop Thinkin' Bout You
Mayercraft 2008
Duet during 2.3.08

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Martin Sexton-Folsom Prison
Marty performing the classic Johnny Cash tune "Folsom Prison" at the Calvin Theatre in Northhampton MA on Nov.3, 2007



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A native of Syracuse, New York, Martin Sexton grew up on the timeless sounds of ‘70s radio, from Stevie Wonder to Led Zeppelin (who led him toward blues legends like Howlin Wolf and Willie Dixon). Sexton eventually migrated to Boston, where he began to build his following singing on the streets of Harvard Square and gradually working his way into the club scene. His 1992 collection of self-produced demo recordings, IN THE JOURNEY, was recorded on a old 8-track in a friend’s attic. He managed to sell 20,000 copies out of his guitar case busking. Sexton recalls, “All those one-dollar bills I saved to make that record was the best eight-hundred bucks I ever spent.” His captivating performances led to a bounty of Boston Music Awards and the National Academy of Songwriters "Artist of the Year" award.

1996 saw Sexton release his first full-fledged studio recording, BLACK SHEEP, which remains an active favorite among fans. While the acclaimed Atlantic debut, 1998s THE AMERICAN, was produced by Danny Kortchmar, on the next record Martin opted to take the reins himself and produce. WONDER BAR (2000), the highly-anticipated second Atlantic release, Sexton was able to fashion an extraordinary collection of songs, reconstructing the spirited sound and unpretentious attitude of that classic ‘70s FM radio for a new generation.

Hailed by Billboard as "the finest new male singer/songwriter of recent memory," as well as "a vocalist of amazing proficiency and sensual conviction." The Boston based troubadour on WONDER BAR was accompanied by two of rock’s most valuable players bassist Tony Levin (King Crimson, Peter Gabriel) and keyboardist David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen, Sting). This and all Sexton’s records distill soul, gospel, R&B, country and blues… in short, the American musical landscape into archetypal rock n roll.
While Sexton enjoyed an uncommon artistic freedom and the backing a major label can provide, he was still left wondering if that large corporate machinery was necessary. Sexton asked Atlantic to be released from his contract and now…

Happily and fiercely independent, Martin Sexton launched his own label Kitchen Table Records (2002) with his first live double-cd set, LIVE WIDE OPEN. Mixed by John Alagia (Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer), this record captures the energy of the artist connecting with the crowd, highlighting the joy, skill, and inspiration of any Martin Sexton musical performance.

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Renowned as a die-hard road warrior, Sexton has traveled the globe with his guitar slung on his back and a heart full of soul. His songs are intricate and spirited… His fans range from teenage students to jocks to musicians, from the East Village to Wall Street, tradesmen to doctors, black, white, young and old, all singing together in three-part harmony. To see the crowd at a Martin Sexton concert is to witness a cross-section of America. People claim Sexton’s songs inspire them to change, quit their job, go cross-country, follow their dreams, or whatever... To this Sexton replies, “Walking down 7th Avenue I saw an old black man banging on a five-gallon bucket and singing some African chant. I was in a hurry to get where I was going, but had to stop, not because of the music, but because of his face. It was glowing, pouring out, overflowing with the most profound joy I had ever seen. This changed my life. Music has that power.”

2005 brought us Sexton’s Christmas record, Camp Holiday. “Anyone who has grown impatient with the crass commercialization of the season should check out this CD, recorded with tender simplicity and genuine fireside warmth in an Adirondack mountain cabin.” – The Washington Post

Acoustic Guitar Magazine raved about Sexton’s remarkable visceral live shows, calling the singer a "master of dynamics, reducing a room to silence with his blustering baritone, then teasing that silence with a fluttering falsetto." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that the singer/songwriter "jumps beyond standard fare on the strength of his voice, a blue-eyed soul man’s supple instrument," adding that "his unpretentious heartiness helps him focus on every soul singer’s goal: to amplify the sound of the ordinary heart." "Martin Sexton is ripe with ... raw, expansive talent. His voice comes in a hundred impossible shades. His songs are sweet and spirited and soulful. His repertoire is like a cross-country tour of the American musical vernacular." Boston Globe

Sexton tours in support of his seventh record, SEEDS, releasing April 2007, from the Nokia Theatre (NYC) to The Fillmore (San Francisco) and all points in between.