Talk of the Town 02-06-13
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Artist Statement for Photographic Exhibit “Simplexity”:
Simplexity: An emerging theory that proposes a possible complementary relationship between complexity and simplicity.
Local photographer Burdette Parks is the featured artist for the month of August in the lobby gallery of Pendragon Theatre. An exhibit of his photographs titled “Simplexity” opens on August 7th with an Artist’s Reception from 5:30 to 7:00 and will run through Labor Day.
According to Mr. Parks’ artist statement for the show:
“The natural Order (pun intended) of Nature is Chaos. Nature tends not to do things in an orderly way. The natural world is a chaotic jumble of random occurrences of complexly ordered systems. There are too many variables and influences at work for order to be sustained. So when we observe nature in it’s unadulterated state, we see mostly the resulting chaos.
In this series of images, my goal as a photographer has been to make images of the natural world that simplify nature’s inherent chaos. This, I think, is a rather normal impulse for many photographers when framing and composing an image. But for this series, I have concentrated on the essentials. I worked to emphasize the graphic qualities of the subject, eliminating unnecessary detail and focusing on shapes, forms, colors, textures and relationships. As one focuses in more and more closely to natural subjects, the truth of the old aphorism that one can find a world in a grain of sand becomes abundantly clear. Things that appear extremely simple, even orderly, from a distance become intricately complex on closer inspection. On the other hand, by reducing the apparent detail in a larger perspective (akin to squinting at a landscape) detail is diminished and basic forms predominate.”
The display system for the images in this exhibit is a marked departure from the more traditional matting and framing of prints under glass. In collaboration with a skilled woodworker, a unique shadowbox-like presentation was created with the images “floating free” within a finely crafted natural wood box. The images were printed on specially coated photo-canvas using archival pigment inks. After drying, they were given two coatings of sealant to protect the surfaces from scrapes, water and UV light. (Though like any photo image, they should not be displayed in direct sun.) The canvases were then “stretched” onto wooden panels, positioned over background panels and locked in place. “Floating” within the box gives the images an added impression of depth.
William Blake: “To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wildflower.”
Burdette’s Photo Bio:
Burdette was born and educated inNorth Dakotareceiving a BA in Theater Arts from the University of North Dakota. He developed an early interest in photography through his father, an inveterate and prolific family picture taker. That interest was cemented in 1964 when he sold two nature slides to the North Dakota State Travel Department. In college at the University of North Dakota, Burdette did yearbook photography for the Journalism Department, learned processing and darkroom basics doing work-study at the University News Bureau and was mentored in photography by a commercial photographer and a successful photojournalist while pursuing first a pre-med degree and ultimately a degree in Theatre Arts. A brief invitational stint with the U.S. Army got him toTexaswhere he managed and owned live theaters over fourteen years in bothSan AntonioandAustin.
During more than two decades directing and producing live theater, Burdette incorporated photography—doing publicity and production photography for his own and other theaters. His first formal gallery show was in 1980 at aSan Antoniogallery and for thirty years a sculptural piece of his has graced theSculptureGardenat the San Antonio Museum of Art.

In 1982, he took his act on the road with one-man theater performances. Frankly, B. Franklin was his first foray into the exhilarating realm of solo performance and his first in-depth exposure to Ben Franklin (if you overlook an earlier episode asFranklinin the musical 1776.) In 1985 he wrote and began performing a second solo show, Shakespeare Live! – resulting in him traveling with two alter-egos, Ben and Will—Benjamin Franklin and William Shakespeare—not bad company.
Since 1990, he has been living in the Adirondacks with the wife he met through the amorous influence ofSaranacLake’s Pendragon Theater and since 2001, has enthusiastically resumed a decades long affair with photography.
Photographically, the shift from film to digital happened for Burdette in 2001 and he has been diligently working to keep pace with this rapidly advancing technology ever since. Specializing in fine art landscape/nature work, he has had work showcased in numerous juried shows in the Adirondack region (photographs of his were awarded Best of Show in the Art’s Council of the Northern Adirondack’s 2009 Cover Art competition and an Honorable Mention in their 2011 show) and has been featured in numerous exhibits. As a relatively early convert to digital photography, Burdette has accumulated a vast store of information on this rapidly evolving medium and has been sharing his discoveries and enthusiasm through classes and workshops. And as a year-round resident in the endlessly scenicAdirondackPark, he is constantly striving to refine and improve his vision of this special landscape.
While people and theatre remain strong photographic interests, Burdette finds the natural studio of the Adirondacksa beguiling place to explore expanding photographic horizons. His web address is: www.roundlakestudios.com.
For further information about Pendragon’s gallery or any of the summer offerings, contact the theatre at 518-891-1854, on the web: pendragontheatre.org or via e-mail: pdragon@northnet.org.
The Honorable
Clyde Rabideau
Mayor of the Village of Saranac Lake,
The Saranac Lake Board of Trustees and the
Saranac Lake Local Development Corporation Members
Cordially Invite the Honor of Your Presence
To a Grand Reception
Welcoming and Saluting the Commencement of Biotech Operations of
Myriad-RBM
In its New 3 Main Street Saranac Lake Location
Wednesday Evening, August Eighth
Commencing at Five O’clock
In Riverside Park
The Evening’s Theme is
“The Good Old Summer Time”
Old Fashioned Ice Cream and Root Beer
Will be served to the Music
Of a Dixieland Band
With Complimentary Boater Straw Hats
Tours of the New Myriad RBM Facility Will be Conducted During the Reception
RSVP-By August Sixth-VSL Community Development Office
39 Main Street
comdevassistant@saranaclakeny.gov
This Event is Primarily Underwritten By
J. Hogan Refrigeration and Mechanical, Inc.
Peru, NY
Celebrate the Adirondack’s rich snow-sport heritage and support its future!
28th Annual NYSEF Summer Benefit – Saturday, August 11, 2012, 6:30-9:30 pm
Turf & Field Club, Lake Placid Horseshow Grounds
Lake Placid, NY, August 11, 2012 – The New York Ski Educational Foundation (NYSEF) is hosting the 28th Annual Summer Benefit, Saturday, August 11th in the Turf & Field Club at the Lake Placid Horseshow Grounds from 6:30-9:30 pm. Join NYSEF for a special evening to support local youth – step into the past with wooden skis and leather boots, traditional European cuisine, cocktails, music and silent auction.
Adirondack tradition has a history rich in snow sports and Olympic heritage. Let’s preserve that heritage by supporting and investing in its future. Lake Placid has hosted two historical Olympic Winter Games, and continuously aspires to update and maintain the venues for World class competitions and training; and to mold young athletes to pursue their dreams.
NYSEF is a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to providing professional guidance and support to athletes of all ages in Alpine, Freestyle, Cross-Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, Biathlon, and Nordic Combined. NYSEF athletes represent the United States Ski and Snowboard Teams competing at Olympic, World, Jr. World and National Team levels. Join us for an evening to support the continuation of this tradition!
Open to ages 21 and up – advance purchase tickets are $80/person, $150/couple and $40/ages 21-35. Tickets are $90 at the door. For details and to purchase tickets visit NYSEF online at: www.nysef.org or call the NYSEF office at 518-946-7001.
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LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — The 2012 summer skating continues this weekend, Aug. 10-11, with Friday’s Freaky Friday and the Saturday Night Ice Show at the Olympic Center, in Lake Placid, N.Y. Friday’s Freaky Friday event begins at 4:30 p.m., while the Saturday night’s show is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. Both events will be held in the center’s 1932 Rink Jack Shea Arena.
Ashley Cain (Coppell, Texas), the 2012 U.S. junior national championship silver medalist, is Saturday night’s featured skater.
Joining Cain will be skaters participating in the 80th annual summer skating program. The skaters will perform their individual and group numbers during this entertaining event. Admission to the show is $10 for adults, $8 for juniors and seniors. Children six and under may enter for free.
The ever-popular Freaky Friday show will also feature skaters from the summer skating program, who create their own unique routines for this event. The skaters abandon their regular routines in favor of creativity, humor and amusement. The routines are judged on entertainment value. Admission is free.
To learn more about the Lake Placidsummer skating program, log on to www.lakeplacidskating.com. For more information on ORDA’s Olympic venues and events, visit www.whitefacelakeplacid.com.
Final 2012 Concert features violin and horn soloists
“On The Orient Express” is the last concert of the Lake Placid Sinfonietta’s 2012 season. The concert will be held at theLake PlacidCenterfor the Arts on Sunday, August 12 at7:30 PM. The concert’s program will include a flamboyant solo by ConcertmasterDaniel Szasz(Porembescu’s “Balada”) and a double Horn Concerto by Telemann featuring Sinfonietta member David Pandolfi and his son Adam Pandolfi, both on horn. Tickets are available through the LPCA box office, 518.523.2512, all seating is reserved. There is no charge for students 18 and under (as available.)
The Lake Placid Sinfonietta is also using this concert as an opportunity to give back to the community. In the spring, many orchestras collect donations for local food pantries through a program called Orchestras Feeding America. In keeping with that initiative, and in recognition of how difficult summers can be for families without enough resources to buy groceries, a food drive is being held at this concert. Non-perishable food items brought to the August 12 concert will be collected and given to volunteers who will deliver the food collected to the Ecumenical Charity Program’s Food Pantry.
Concertmaster Daniel Szaszis featured in this concert in “Balada” by the composer Ciprian Porumbescu, which he arranged himself for violin and orchestra, and in Franz Lehar’s “Hungarian Fantasy” with the orchestra. Mr. Szasz enjoys a world wide reputation as a soloist and is the founder of a spring music festival inRomania. The “suite in F Mojor for Two Horns” will feature longtime Sinfonietta principal horn David Pandolfi with his son Adam Pandolfi, also on horn. Both david Pandolfi andDaniel Szaszare members of the Alabama Symphony where they hold the positions of Principal Horn and Concertmaster, respectively.
Other selections on the program include Johan Strauss, Jr.’s “Vienna Blood Waltz” and Gustav Holst’s “Brook Green Suite. The evening will end with the traditional “Finale” from Haydn’s “Farewell Symphony” which features the musicians leaving the stage one at a time, extinguishing a candle as they go until the stage is empty.
For more complete information on the orchestra, the musicians, and programs please visit the Lake Placid Sinfonietta’s website at www.LakePlacidSinfonietta.org of call the Lake Placid Sinfonietta office at 518-523-2051.
St Joesph’s Addiction Treatment and Recovery Centers will host it’s 11th annual golf tournament on August 13th at Lake Placid’s Crown Plaza Mountain Course. Registration begins at 11am and the Scramble format starts at 1pm. This year’s tournament includes a $10,000 putting contest and a $50,000 Shootout. $340.00 per fourseome or $85.00 per individual. Awards Program and Bar B Que following the competition.
Registration: Call 891-5353 x286 to register or for more information
SaranacLake’s 3rd Thursday Art Walks will continue this Thursday. The Village of Saranac Lake will again host the talents of regional and local artists of various genres from 5:00 to 7:30pm.
Beginning a self-guided tour through Downtown and a couple of outer-lying venues, visitors can go to any participating venue, get a schedule and map, see and experience at their own pace established artists’ work and emerging talents from all over the North Country. There will be more than 30 venues this time marked with festive balloons.
This event will extend from Pendragon Theatre on Brandy Brook Rd., off of River St., to the Saranac Laboratory Museum on Church St. and then on Main St. between River and Church Streets, up Broadway to BluSeed Studios on Cedar St. and then on Bloomingdale Ave. between Broadway and Depot St. at the new Adirondack Carousel.
At Pendragon Theatre, visitors can enjoy the works of photographer, Burdette Parks, and next learn about “The Story of Saranac Lake” in the John Black Room at theSaranacLaboratoryMuseumonChurch St. The Adirondack Artists’ Guild will be showing Marylou Reid’s new clay work, “Totems and Vessels,” as well as works of other members. The Cantwell Room in the Saranac Lake Free Library will host the “Summer Show” of the Paint and Palette Association with a “Meet the Artist” reception that evening. Visitors to the NorthWinds Fine Arts Gallery on Broadway will see its members’ works plus “Cutting Corners,” the current show of local artist, Heidi Gutersloh. Up onCedar St., BluSeed Studios will showcase Jack LaDuke’s new photography, “Sun and Shadow,” and visitors can enjoy a “Meet the Artist” reception there from 6-8pm.
Please note that fine arts photographer, Mark Kurtz, now has his studio upstairs in The Annex, above the Adirondack Artists’ Guild, along with the drawing and sculpting studios of Maria DiAngelo and Matt Paul.
Art Walk visitors will also be able to enjoy many types of music Thursday evening throughoutDowntownSaranacLake. Soulful singer-songwriter, Theresa Hartford will grace the Berkeley Green stage while several other musicians entertain visitors along the sidewalks, including the sax quartet, “Adirondack Saxes,” indie-folk group, “The Lemmon Drops,”Potsdampianist, Matt Bullwinkel, folk singer, Michael Shepard, the trio, “Dust Bunnies,” and accordionist, Hannah Huber. At The Waterhole’s “Party on the Patio,” Rusty Dovos will perform starting at 6pm.
In addition, various other artists contributing to this event include 6 members of the Lake Placid Poets’ Guild; woodcarvers, Rachel Lamb and Mark Paul; artist, Charlene Deleel and young friends; string instrument builder, Charlie Marshall; rug hooking demo by Judy O’Toole; artist, Cal Rice; children’s photographer, Kristin Parker; wildlife photographer, Craig Dickey; photographer, Shaun Durant; crafter, Sarah Humphreys and 2nd-grade photographer, Cade Corris.
SaranacLake’s 3rd Thursday Art Walks 2012 also has a Facebook presence so please find us and Like the page to get more information.
PLATINUM LEED HOUSE IN LAKE PLACID
Creative Healing Connections, a North Country nonprofit group that provides arts and healing retreats, is hosting a benefit cocktail party at the new home of Larry and Nancy Master in Lake Placid on August 16th. The home just received a Platinum LEED Certification.
“We use the arts in nature to help women with cancer and chronic illnesses, female veterans and female military spouses to heal,” commented CHC board president and founder Naj Wikoff of Keene Valley. “What an incredible opportunity to see a platinum LEED certified home that is lovingly built with the planet’s health in mind, while learning about healing women in nature.”
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED is an international standard created to help building owners with green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community has met their standards so that the homeowner or home buyer can be assured that it was constructed in an environmentally sound manner and built to last.
Founded in 1999 and also built to last, Creative Healing Connections gives scholarships to nine out of ten of its female participants, and this event will help raise scholarship funds for 2012 and 2013.
“In May we held the nation’s first retreat for female military spouses and partners in Saranac Lake,” said CHC director Martha Spear of Upper Jay. “It was a huge success and we are so grateful to all our funders for making it possible.”
“We are offering three more retreats this year,” remarked CHC co-founder Fran Yardley, of Tupper Lake, who also leads retreats. “Two for female veterans in August and one for women with cancer and chronic illnesses in September. All the retreats are filling up fast.” Yardley, a storyteller, will be one of several featured guests at the Masters’ home.
“While this event is a fund-raiser for CHC, we want anyone to come who is interested in enjoying this private house and garden opening,” said event co-chair Susan Rose Hockert of Wilmington. “Entry to the event is free, with an optional donation of $50 per person suggested.”
Larry and Nancy Master are “best friends who have been married for 40 years,” according to the website of the Adirondack Community Trust where they have a donor advised fund. Larry serves on the board of several environmental and conservation groups, while Nancy serves on the board of the North Country SPCA. The new home is the fulfillment of their lifelong dream to live lightly on the land.
“I am very happy we can do this for Creative Healing Connections,” said Larry in a recent phone call.
“Relatedly, please save the date for our 2013 Mad Hatters Ball featuring Roby Politi as the Mad Hatter: Thursday, March 21st at 5:30 p.m. at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid,” added Franny Preston, of Saranac Lake, who co-chairs the event with Hockert and Erin Perkins of Lake Placid.
To RSVP for this event please contact director Martha Spear at 518-390-3899 or director@creativehealingconnections.org.
Thursday, August 16: Art Walk: Come visit the Saranac Laboratory Museum and enjoy some live music. As an architectural wonder, the building itself is a work of art. Also on display are new exhibit panels and historic photographs of Saranac Lake in the John Black Room. 5:00-7:30. Free of charge.
Summer skating continues in the 1932 rink this weekend..,
Lindsay Davis and Mark Ladwig make up one of the most promising pairs heading into this year’s season.. They’ll headline The Saturday Night Ice show. The two have been skating together since May and before that, Davis claimed the 2010 U.S. junior bronze medal and Ladwig is a 2010 Olympian, a two-time U.S. pairs silver medalist and a 2012 U.S. pairs bronze medalist. Admission to the Saturday Night Ice show is $10 for adults, $8 for juniors and seniors. Show time at the 1932 rink is 7:30.. Friday’s show is free and opens at 4:30pm..
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To learn more about the Lake Placidsummer skating program, log on to www.lakeplacidskating.com.
For more information on ORDA’s Olympic venues and events, visit www.whitefacelakeplacid.com
Summer skating continues in the 1932 rink this weekend..,
Lindsay Davis and Mark Ladwig make up one of the most promising pairs heading into this year’s season.. They’ll headline The Saturday Night Ice show. The two have been skating together since May and before that, Davis claimed the 2010 U.S. junior bronze medal and Ladwig is a 2010 Olympian, a two-time U.S. pairs silver medalist and a 2012 U.S. pairs bronze medalist. Admission to the Saturday Night Ice show is $10 for adults, $8 for juniors and seniors. Show time at the 1932 rink is 7:30.. Friday’s show is free and opens at 4:30pm..
—
To learn more about the Lake Placidsummer skating program, log on to www.lakeplacidskating.com.
For more information on ORDA’s Olympic venues and events, visit www.whitefacelakeplacid.com
Post 326
American Legion Open
Golf Tournament
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Craig Wood Golf & Country Club
Prizes For:
Gross, Net, Callaway, Men & Women
Longest Drives & Closest to the Pins
Entry Fee includes:
Green Fees & Awards Buffet at the American Legion Home
CWGA Members $30
Non-Members $45
For information & Tee Times contact
Craig Wood ~ 523-9811
Fri., August 24-All are invited to a free opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. for an exhibition of works by nature photographer John DiGiacomo at the Guy Hughes Gallery in the Laker Placid Public Library. Proceeds from photo sales will be donated to the non-profit organization Reason2Smile, which supports a school and orphanage in Kenya.
August 25, 2012 (Saturday) – Mt. Pisgah, Saranac Lake, New York
One-Day Event – All Bike Riders and Abilities Welcome – Rain Date: August 26
The Century Ride starts at 8:00 a.m., 50-mile ride at 10:00, 25-mile ride at 11:00 and a free kid’s ride at 1:00. This is a well-supported bike ride with feed stations, port-a-johns and a sag wagon. There will be prizes, a BBQ, tee shirts, music and homemade pies! Proceeds benefit youth programs of the Saranac Lake Kiwanis Club, including the annual Bike Rodeo that has distributed over 1,000 bike helmets to area youth.

This is a beautiful ride through Adirondack Park forest and farmland north of Saranac Lake. Great mountain views but no mountain climbing on the ride. Wide shoulders on the State Routes, otherwise quiet back roads. Along the route are Paul Smiths, Mecham Lake, Lake Clear, Gabriels and St. Regis Falls.
Registration fee is $40 for the Century Ride, $35 for the Half-Century and $30 for the 25-mile ride.
Active Duty Military and Law Enforcement Ride Free
Register Online:

or print a PDF of the Registration Form and mail with a check to Pat Stratton Memorial Ride, 33 Depot Street, Saranac Lake NY 12983. For more information contact Dan Reilly, 518-891-1616 or e-mail adkbuild@roadrunner.com
Starts and ends at Mt Pisgah Ski Area, 92 Mount Pisgah Rd, Saranac Lake, NY 12983 (44.345596,-74.125682). SeeGoogle Map for route and support locations.
Visit our Sponsors, who make the ride and the donations possible:
HomEnergy Services Gladd Electric Scheefer’s Adirondack Builders
Don Rumble Construction Wilkins Insurance Fitness Revolution
Flowering Meadow Nursery AdirondackCraft.com H & M Steel
Annual Christmas Retreat – Guggenheim Lodge
Guggenheim Lodge will hold it’s annual Christmas Retreat August 24th through the 26th. A Mass of Healing will be at 3pm Saturday, with Fr. Anthony Gramlich officiating – All are welcome.
Towne Meeting to Perform at Will Rogers
On Saturday, August 25 at 7:30 p.m., Towne Meeting will perform a blend of vocals and acoustic sounds at Saranac Village at Will Rogers. Primarily considered a folk group, they will perform a variety of genres from acoustic rock to country.
Their group consists of family and life long friends, many of whom have sung and played music together off and on for many years including Dennis Hulbert, Justin VanCour and three Saranac Lake natives and graduates, Miles Moody, Rich Sutphen and Gary VanCour. All members provide vocals and guitar performances among other instruments.
Towne Meeting has performed around Northern New York and Vermont for the past three years. They have produced three CDs titled Stillwater, A Christmas World and Looking Back. They are currently planning to record a fourth album.
there is a $5 suggested donation. Refreshments will be served. For more information, please contact Debbie Kanze at (518) 891-7117.
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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