Martin Sexton
(born March 2, 1966) is an American folk singer-songwriter originally from the Syracuse, New York, area, and the brother of musician Colleen Sexton.
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MARTIN SEXTON TICKETS
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Career
Sexton grew up the tenth of twelve children in a working class
Irish-American family.
[1]. He acquired his first guitar, a Sears & Roebuck acoustic, at the age of 14 and later played in local rock 'n roll bands. Looking to find his own voice, he left home when he was 22 years old and began busking as a
street performer in
Harvard Square in
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
[2]
In November 1990, with $800 and some borrowed equipment, Sexton recorded a
demo cassette
In the Journey
, eventually selling more than 20,000 copies, mostly at local gigs.
[3] His strong
live performances won him a
Boston Music Award for "Best New Artist" and led to his being named "Artist of the Year" by the
National Academy of Songwriters in 1994.
[4]
He worked his way into the city's legendary
folk club circuit and soon began touring, releasing his first full-length
studio recording Black Sheep
in 1996, followed two years later by a major
label debut on
Atlantic Records,
The American
, produced by
Danny Kortchmar. His second
album on Atlantic,
Wonder Bar
, came out in 2000 and was self-produced by Sexton.
Following his departure from Atlantic, he formed his own independent label, Kitchen Table Records, and released 2002's
Live Wide Open
, a two-disc live album.
Camp Holiday
, a seasonal album of
Christmas standards, came out in 2005, then "Seeds" in 2007, finally followed by his latest original live album is
Solo
, released in 2008. In early 2009,
Solo
won in The 8th Annual
Independent Music Awards for Best Live Performance Album.
[5] Sexton was also an inaugural member of the
Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.
[6]
That year, his song "Diner" reached a wide
TV audience when it appeared in the
Scrubs
episode "
My Night to Remember."
Style
Sexton's music blends many genres of American music, including soul, gospel, country, rock, blues, and R&B. He is known for his wide vocal range and ability to improvise. He is also known for
beatboxing and scat singing
guitar solos. Onstage, he often plays finger style guitar.
Discography
Albums
- 2008 - Solo
(Kitchen Table)
- 2007 - Seeds
(Kitchen Table)
- 2005 - Camp Holiday
(Kitchen Table)
- 2001 - Live Wide Open
(Kitchen Table)
- 2000 - Wonder Bar
(Atlantic Records)
- 1998 - The American
(Atlantic Records)
- 1996 - Black Sheep
(Koch International)
- 1992 - In the Journey
(Koch Entertainment)
Other contributions
- Live & Direct - Volume 3
, WYEP-FM, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (2001) - "Where Did I Go Wrong" [7]
- Live at the World Café - Volume 9
(1999) - "The American"
- Live & Direct - Volume 1
, WYEP-FM, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (1999) - "The American" [8]
References
- Martin Sexton Finds Joy, Hope and Wonder
- Career Development: Martin Sexton
- "Martin Sexton", ''Allmusic''
- Independent Music Awards - 8th Annual Winners
- Independent Music Awards - Past Judges
- Live & Direct CDs