February 2016
The Sound STC • Vol.2 Issue 02
Ron Sexmith’s Carousel Rides Home
By Chris Illich
After nearly a year of touring his 14th album
Carousel One, singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith
will be finishing off his tour circuit with a hometown show at the newly formed FirstOntario
Performing Arts Centre on February 26.
Sexsmith, who got his start in St. Catharines
performing gigs around town, moved to Toronto at the age of 22 to pursue his musical career, but he has fond memories of the city he
spent his formative days in.
“I was born and raised in St. Catharines and
it was a great place to grow up. My musical
dreams were formed there. I’m really excited to
see the new Art Centre because when I was a kid
St. Paul St. was quite alive. Everyone would go
there,” he recalled.
“As soon as the malls started opening up, people started avoiding downtown so I think this
is great for the downtown and will help start
bringing people downtown again.”
As a young father, Sexsmith saved for two
years to move to Toronto. He stated that “his
friends would go straight from school to a lifetime job at an auto plant or paper mill,” but he
wanted to follow his passion for music and had
to leave St. Catharines.
Sexsmith, who always visits St. Catharines over
the Christmas break to spend time with his parents
would also come into the city to perform at the
Centre for the Arts at Brock University, something
he “will miss, [as he] always enjoyed playing there.”
The Toronto based troubadour’s recently released Carousel One (March 2015), his most upbeat record of yet. For a songwriter known for
his melancholy style, this record marked a great
departure from the songs of his past.
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He’s been on tour since April 2015, and has had
“a really good tour,” but he also mentioned how
taxing it can be as well.
“I love performing but I don’t always like travelling. It’s very stressful now. I’m very grateful,
because it’s obviously easier than what a lot of
people have to do for a living. But I’ve been on
the move since 1993 just touring and recording and touring again – it can get very back and
forth. I think as I get older it will change somehow,” he said.
“I will probably be doing less of it than more
because it takes a lot out of you. Whenever I tour
my health suffers. You’re not really sleeping well
or eating well. I’ll just have to see. When you put
out a record people expect you to go out on tour,
it’s kind of something that you can’t get away
from. It’s mostly just a lot of waiting around and
sitting in a van or waiting to go somewhere.
Though, I do love walking out on stage and playing, that part never changes.”
On the other side, Sexsmith has met a lot of
his heroes, performed at the famed Massey Hall
several times and headlined at Royal Albert Hallwhere he has an illustration of himself as part
of a mural on the wall. To say he hasn’t had a
storied career would be an understatement.
“You know, I did really bad at school and
coming from St. Catharines, I didn’t think my
prospects weren’t that good. I got out of St.
Catharines and moved to Toronto and made it
happen, I’m really proud of that too,” he said.
“We’re all really looking forward to the show
and hopefully we’ll get a good turnout. This
whole year has been coming down to this gig
and I’m really excited to end it in my hometown.”
Ron Sexsmith will be giving Sound Advice of Episode 3 of our Podcast, available on SoundCloud, iTunes and Stitcher
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