Martin Sexton

By Tre Martinez
Contributing Writer
Soulful roots singer Martin Sexton will be paying the Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre a visit on Sunday, and he’s bringing his distinctive brand of Americana rock with him.
Sexton began his musical life as a young man in Syracuse, New York, with familiar affections for the six-string guitar and the classic rock of the 60s and 70s. Coming up in the 1980s, he felt connected to earlier music, preferring artists like Janis Joplin or Led Zeppelin, whom he calls “secondhand” blues. At the age of 22, he left home for Boston, Mass., where he began performing locally in train stations and other gigs. It was only when he had arrived in Boston that he says he “discovered my true self, the songwriter that you hear today.  That’s where I started writing songs, as a street artist.”
Sexton has been on the scene for almost two decades now, starting with a 20,000 copy run of eight track demos in 1992 and continuing to last year’s Sugarcoating. Keeping in line with that same DIY spirit of himself as a tape-selling busker in the early 90s, Sexton has been releasing music on his own label, Kitchen Table, since 2001, and his drive and tenacity for his music has remained unwavering.
HPR asked Sexton about his views on whether the advent of file sharing and for lack of a better term “pirating music” has really hurt or helped indie musicians.  Here’s what he said: “I think for me that all of that has just turned into a positive change. For me it serves as more of a free marketing. It kind of serves as a really nice means of airplay and it also somehow turns into sales. I still get checks in the mail, people still come to shows, people still buy records.”
On politics, Sexton had this to say: “I’ve lost my sense of left and right. I’m color blind now I can’t see red or blue. I think the difference between the republican party and democratic party is like the difference between coke and pepsi. They both march basically to the same drum of the corporate power structure. The multinational corporations that actually run the world and I touch upon some of these sentiments on the Sugercoating record. Like the opening track is called “Found” and basically my mom taught me you know, that goodness starts at home so I’ve been trying to change myself, searching for my own moral inventory and it’s working . . . I think the real issue is our rights as citizens are being chiseled away. If you take a look at that bill of rights and then take a look at that patriot act you know, that’s the scary part and I think we can all agree weather you’re right or left or red or blue or what the f#$k ever, we can all agree that we enjoy our freedom and we all enjoy our right to speech and to the press and to you know, whatever your rights are. We enjoy those rights. And that’s where I feel like we need to unite as people and that’s sort of what the record Sugarcoating, it’s a thread that goes through that record about uniting.”
Martin Sexton’s music is a veritable cornucopia of American influences. His guitar work rings of classic country and folk rock like Johnny Cash or Cat Stevens, while his voice has the passionate strength of singers like Neil Young and Ray Charles, with a smooth edge lapping on its sides, reminiscent of the soothing tones of Marvin Gaye and Jeff Buckley. His songwriting is confident yet simple, with catchy melodies and an anthemic quality to the lyrics, while there is a simultaneous thoughtfulness with such turns of phrase as “the less I see, the more I know.” The rhythms vary from hip-shaking groovy to a relaxing grind. In particular, Sugarcoating has a “thread that goes through that record about uniting,” according to Sexton, which he chalks up to “the divisive differences that divide me from my fellow brothers and sisters of the world.”
Sexton’s fan base has grown both large and loyal because of his many talents, and he has sold out many a large venue from New York to California. The Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre, on the other hand, is an almost ideal venue for a performer of this caliber: small, calm, and intimate. The acoustics are warm and pleasant, and will no doubt compliment his rootsy sound. Furthermore, the intimate setting is perfect for a songwriter as heartfelt and legitimate in his words and music, and all of this adds up to an irresistible opportunity.
Sunday night, the Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre will present Martin Sexton, and in doing so present a brilliant singer, songwriter and instrumentalist. This performance is sure to be an unforgettable night of original music in a comfortable place with a one of a kind artist.
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[Editor’s Note: Interview with Martin Sexton conducted by HPR’s contributer Matt White-Lunar]
IF YOU GO
What: Martin Sexton Acoustic Show
Where: Fargo Moorhead Community Theater; 333 4th St. S
When:  Sun., Jan., 30 8 p.m.
Info:  Tickets available at downtown FM Atomic Coffee locations, by phone 800.514.3849, and online at http://www.jadepresents.com