Martin Sexton will be playing with the Ryan Montbleau band, his band, for a string of dates beginning today, 4/15/10 until Bonnaroo Music Festival June 10th down in Manchester, TN. After Bonnaroo, he’ll be joining forces with the Dave Matthews Band until he winds down his tour at the end of summer. What can you expect at a Martin Sexton show? I got a chance to chat with him and find out…
Hailing from the east coast, he has relentlessly and effortlessly toured with his message sugarcoated in his music since 1992. His unique voice is often the first part of his music to leave an impression on audiences. I read an interview with Ray LaMontagne where he was asked about his singing technique; his response was simply that he sings from his gut. I asked Martin where his singing comes from. His response was not so simple.
“I sing from the inspirational channel. Sometimes I sing from the gut, sometimes from the crown chakra, the throat… I try to use my whole body to channel that spirit of the music and the energy of the audience.”
His audiences are eclectic much like the man making the music they came to see. Sexton described the Universal Life Force pulsing through him as his puts his vessel into the music and the music making process, “Jesus, Buddha, Allah, whatever it is that you believe is the higher power.”
Myself, I first got a glimpse of Martin on the compilation album Southbound, an album with tracks from him, Ani DiFranco, and Utah Phillips. I asked him about collaborations such as that. To my surprise, while he has never artistically collaborated with Ani, he spoke highly of her. He said that her Righteous Babe Records label was a huge inspiration for his own independent label. Kitchen Table Records is his own label that has allowed him to come a long way from his demo recordings of 1992. Martin remarked, “Independent is the only way to go.” And Go and Go and Go and GO…. Check him out this summer you never know what you’ll get with this artistic, spiritual, master of the road. See ya there!
