LPCA Concert – Martin Sexton

The Lake Placid Center for the Arts invites you to a One-Night-Only Concert featuring Martin Sexton on Saturday, August 25 at 8pm. Billboard calls Sexton, “The real thing, people, a star with potential to permanently affect the musical landscape and keep us entertained for years to come.” This performance is a Benefit Concert for Dewey Mountain  – a historic Adirondack recreation center which yields not only community but Olympiads of the past and future, and the evening  will include a live auction.

Tickets are $30 general admission or $60 VIP  Package which includes sound check party, meet and greet with Martin, refreshments,  and preferred seating.  Purchase your seats today by calling 523-2512.

American soul man Martin Sexton is best known for his incendiary live performances. There is perhaps no better way to experience Sexton’s live concert energy than via one of his solo shows.

The New York Times noted that Sexton “jumps beyond standard fare on the strength of his voice, a blue-eyed soul man’s supple instrument . . . his unpretentious heartiness helps him focus on every soul singer’s goal: to amplify the sound of an ordinary heart.” And Rolling Stone adds, “His outstanding taste in songwriting as well as a soul marinated voice that can easily be compared to the likes of a young Steve Winwood or Van Morrison.”

About Martin’s latest album:

MARTIN SEXTON – Fall Like Rain

Martin Sexton’s brand-new EP, finds this artist again asking relevant questions and challenging the status quo. Entertaining us all the while, he continues to call for unity in “One Voice Together” and adds: “In a world of warfare, peace is bad for business . . .” A timely cover of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” reminds us it’s time to “stop, hey, what’s that sound, everybody look what’s going down.” On this record, the artist subtly and seamlessly blends infectious tunes with a powerful message.

His “soul-marinated voice” (Rolling Stone) shimmers on the soaring falsetto on the title track: “I wanna feel, I wanna fall like rain, without the shelter, so I can see which way the wind is blowin’ today.”

Why an EP? Sexton says, “These songs are relevant today and I didn’t want to wait to release a full-length album. And in a down economy, we’re getting new music to people for the price of a soy latte.”

A native of Syracuse, N.Y., and the tenth of 12 children, Martin Sexton grew up in the ’80s. Uninterested in the music of the day, he fueled his dreams with the timeless sounds of classic rock ’n’ roll. As he discovered the dusty old vinyl left in the basement by one his big brothers, his musical fire was lit. Sexton eventually migrated to Boston, where he began to build a following singing on the streets of Harvard Square, gradually working his way through the scene. His 1992 collection of self-produced demo recordings, In the Journey, was recorded on an old 8-track in a friend’s attic. He managed to sell 20,000 copies out of his guitar case.

From 1996 to 2002 Sexton released Black Sheep, The American, Wonder Bar and Live Wide Open. The activity and worldwide touring behind these records laid the foundation for the career he enjoys today with an uncommonly loyal fan base; he sells out venues from New York’s Nokia Theatre to L.A.’s House of Blues, and tours regularly across Canada and Europe.

Happily and fiercely independent, Martin Sexton launched his own label, KTR, in 2002. Since then he has infiltrated many musical worlds, performing at concerts ranging from pop (collaborating with John Mayer) to the Jam scene to classic rock (collaborating with Peter Frampton); from the Newport Folk Fest to Bonnaroo to New Orleans Jazz Fest to a performance at Carnegie Hall.

Regardless of his reputation as a musician’s musician, Sexton can’t keep Hollywood away. His songs can be heard in many feature films and television including NBC’s Scrubs, Parenthood and Showtime’s hit series Brotherhood.

Stage, film and television aside, when Sexton isn’t touring he often mixes entertainment with his sense of social responsibility, performing at benefits for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang camp, the Children’s Tumor Foundation, Japan earthquake/tsunami relief (The John Lennon Tribute), and Hurricane Irene relief efforts in Vermont, to name some.

In 2007 Sexton began his most successful years to date with the release of his studio offering Seeds. The album debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart, and the Los Angeles Times said, “Call him a soul shouter, a road poet, a folkie or a rocker and you wouldn’t be wrong.”

The live CD/DVD set Solo, which includes a DVD of his performance at Denver’s Mile High Festival, followed in 2008.

In 2010 the album Sugarcoating found this one-of-a-kind-troubadour doing what he does best: locating larger truths. After hearing it, NBC anchor Brian Williams sought Martin out to sit down for an interview backstage at New York’s Beacon Theatre. It’s now featured on MSNBC’s BriTunes.

The accolades continue. Billboard called Sexton’s version of “Working Class Hero” for the Lennon tribute/benefit in 2010 “chill-inspiring.” Released this November as part of The 30th Annual John Lennon Tribute album, the track is available on iTunes.

The New York Times noted that this artist “jumps beyond standard fare on the strength of his voice, a blue-eyed soul man’s supple instrument,” adding, “his unpretentious heartiness helps him focus on every soul singer’s goal: to amplify the sound of the ordinary heart.”

Billboard called Sexton “The real thing, people, a star with potential to permanently affect the musical landscape and keep us entertained for years to come.”

About Sexton:

Sexton got his start playing on the streets and subways of Boston in the 1990s. Today he sells out venues nationwide—world-class rooms like the Nokia Theater in New York City and House of Blues Los Angeles. With his song “Diner” included on a recent episode of “Scrubs,” the single “Happy” from Seeds reaching #1 on the AAA charts and the second single “Wild Angels” being included in a USA Today “Playlist” upon the album’s release, the accolades continue. Sexton has earned the respect of fellow artists, people like John Mayer, who calls him “the best live performer I’ve ever seen.”

Don’t miss Martin Sexton live at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts on Saturday, August 25 at 8pm. Tickets can be reserved by calling the LPCA Box Office at 518-523-2512. For more information on these and other upcoming events, visit online at www.LakePlacidArts.org.  More information on Sexton can be found at www.martinsexton.com

This entry was posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:57 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.