Martin Sexton Born March 2, 1966 is an American singer-songwriter and music producer.

Early life

Born in 1966, Sexton grew up in Syracuse, New York, the tenth of twelve children in a working class Irish-American family. He acquired his first guitar, a

Sears & Roebuck Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as ...

acoustic model, at age 14.

Career

In 1988, Sexton moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

, and began playing on street corners and at

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...

nights around the city. Sexton released a collection of self-produced

demo recordings A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

in 1991 called ''In The Journey''. The album was released on an 8-track cassette, and Sexton sold 15,000 copies to fans. He was given the

National Academy of Songwriters National Academy of Songwriters was a music industry association that provided a support network for songwriters, and awarded honors in various categories. Originally founded by Helen King as Songwriters Resources and Services, she saw a need to pro ...

Artist of the Year Award in 1994. He released ''Black Sheep'' in 1996, an album called ''The American'' in 1998, and another album called ''Wonder Bar'' in 2000. He launched his independent record label, Kitchen Table Records, in 2001 and released a concert album called ''Live Wide Open''. His album, ''Seeds'', was released in 2007. In 2008, he released a second live album called ''Solo''. Subsequent albums included ''Sugarcoating'' (2010), ''Fall Like Rain'' (2012). and ''Mixtape of the Open Road'' (2015). In 2017, Martin joined Chris Anderson (upright and electric bass) and Boo Reiners (multi-string instruments) to make The Martin Sexton Trio. Sexton's latest recording, "2020 Vision" was released on September 1, 2021.

Discography

Albums

*''In the Journey'' (

Koch Entertainment Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company Entertainment One in 2005. History First years The company began in 1975 as part of Koch Intern ...

, 1992) *''Black Sheep'' (

Koch International Koch Entertainment was an American record label and a distributor of film, television, and music. It was purchased by Canadian entertainment company Entertainment One in 2005. History First years The company began in 1975 as part of Koch Intern ...

, 1996) *''The American'' (

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

, 1998) *''Live at the Fillmore'' (Atlantic Records, 1999) *''Wonder Bar'' (Atlantic Records, 2000) *''Live Wide Open'' (Kitchen Table, 2001) *''Live at Newbury Comics'' (Kitchen Table, 2003) *''Camp Holiday'' (Kitchen Table, 2005) *''Seeds'' (Kitchen Table, 2007) *''Solo'' (Kitchen Table, 2008) *''Sugarcoating'' (Kitchen Table, 2010) *''Mixtape of the Open Road'' (Kitchen Table, 2015) *''Live at the Belly Up'' (2017) – download only

Extended plays

*''Fall Like Rain'' (Kitchen Table, 2012) *''2020 Vision'' (Kitchen Table, 2021)

Charted singles

Other contributions

*''Live & Direct – Volume 1'', WYEP-FM, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (1999) – "The American" *''Live & Direct – Volume 3'',

WYEP-FM WYEP-FM (91.3 MHz) is a listener-supported non-commercial radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It carries an Adult Album Alternative (AAA) radio format and is run by the Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation, along with 90.5 WES ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylv ...

, Pennsylvania, (2001) – "Where Did I Go Wrong" *'' Live at the World Café - Volume 9'' (1999) – "The American"

References

External links

Official site

Audio recording of an NPR Interview

2012 Interview with American Songwriter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sexton, Martin Living people 1966 births American folk guitarists American male guitarists American folk musicians Fingerstyle guitarists Musicians from Syracuse, New York Independent Music Awards winners American street performers Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Guitarists from New York (state) 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters