Canadian songwriter Ron Sexsmith is a very laidback and talkative character. He writes songs that if recorded and released in another decade, would have become radio classics. Times (and the industry) certainly have changed. For now, we have Ron’s Time Being to remind us of his talents. Songs like ‘Snow Angel’ and ‘All In Good Time’ truly have that Ron Sexsmith sound. Much of it has to do with the production techniques of one Mitchell Froom, who is at the controls for the 4th time with Ron. So why did Ron head back to his old friend Mr. Froom for this release?
“We have always stayed in touch and he is always someone I can call. Whenever I made a record without him, I would send it to him to get his opinion. We were just talking one day and he asked me if I was working on anything. At the time, I had all these songs, the ones on the record now, and others that didn’t make it on. I was worried about them and thought they might be too gloomy”, said Ron. “So I sent him a demo and he called back and he had all these ideas and he was very enthusiastic and I thought, well, maybe the songs weren’t so bad after all. The hard thing was working out whether I could afford to work with him. When I made my first three albums I was on a major record label, and all those albums were a ¼ of million dollars (US) to make”, Ron said.
This is not a gloomy record. Introspective and thoughtful, as most of his work is, but certainly not black. “I was thinking lyrically that they were kind of weird and dark story songs. My last album Retriever was actually my most successful album and that was more kind of upbeat, pop, love songs. I was worried about following it up with an album that was about death and things like that”, Ron continued.
Mortality is certainly a theme as ‘Snowangel’ is about a fictional suicide, but some of the other songs were written while Ron dealt with death closer to home. “A lot of the songs on the record were triggered by the passing of a couple of high school buddies of mine. I just found it a bit strange to be going to funerals of people the same age as me. It worked its way into a few of the songs, like ‘I Had The Time’ and ‘Now The Day is Done’.
As always with his tunes, it takes a few listens for them to creep into your sub-consciousness, but once implanted, you find yourself humming them while you’re walking or riding or doing the housework. The witty ‘Jazz At The Bookstore’, a look at our coffee culture, is one that I find myself singing quite a bit of. Before I asked Ron about his interpretation, I thought it was a take on how our culture today is minimizing art, but his interpretation is a bit different. “I don’t know if art is less important. Maybe today there are more pressing concerns with the war and environmental things. It’s still vital and it means something to people”, said Ron. Ron added, “Jazz at the Bookstore is more of a humorous song. Like I go around to the Starbucks and get my coffee like everyone else. It is strange carrying these giant coffees around and people on their laptops and stuff….It’s weird. We are at a peculiar place in history”, Ron explained.
Playing with Ron on the CD are Pete Thomas and Davey Farragher, a honey of a rhythm section and a couple of musicians that Mitchell uses on his records. It all sounds so effortless. “The recording process took about 5 weeks. We did it in installments. We did a few weeks in August and November. We never ran it into the ground and maybe worked on one song a day and finished by 6PM at night and we started at 1PM. The energy was always up and you can do that when you have great musicians like that.”
And Ron wrote ‘Jazz at the Bookstore’ at the Laundromat, probably with his Mocha Latte close at hand and his socks on tumble dry. Sitting here and listening now, to a songwriter who is compared to McCartney and Costello, and raved about by his peers, this image slightly disturbs me. As Ron said, we are at a weird place in history. Very unusual, that someone like Mr. Sexsmith is not a household name and isn’t enjoying a bit more of the good life that an artist of his caliber should.
But Ron seems to get pleasure from the quiet life and the art of songwriting, not to say he would not mind being a touch more comfortable. “We live a pretty modest lifestyle and we rent a house. I don’t drive and it’s not like the life of luxury. I mean this year I’ll be touring. I don’t have any big plans; I just want to continue writing and creating songs. I’d like to find something that brings a financial nest egg for me. I have always just worked and made a living. It would be nice to get to a point where it isn’t such a stress”, Ron said.
We do live in interesting times where artists that could be called genius are still struggling to make their way.
Go out and purchase Ron’s gorgeous Time Being, catch one of his ½ dozen shows in Australia in September and October and support his art! Let’s get Ron a washer and dryer for Christmas! And while you’re at it, check out any one of his back catalogue, and I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
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