Martin Sexton

Martin Sexton (born March 2, 1966) is an American folk singer-songwriter originally from the Syracuse, New York, area, and the brother of musician Colleen Sexton.

Career

Sexton grew up the tenth of twelve children in a working class Irish-American family.. He acquired his first guitar, a Sears & Roebuck acoustic, at the age of 14 and later played in local rock 'n roll bands. Looking to find his own voice, he left home when he was 22 years old and began busking as a street performer in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In November 1990, with $800 and some borrowed equipment, Sexton recorded a demo cassette In the Journey, eventually selling more than 20,000 copies, mostly at local gigs. His strong live performances won him a Boston Music Award for "Best New Artist" and led to his being named "Artist of the Year" by the National Academy of Songwriters in 1994.

He worked his way into the city's legendary folk club circuit and soon began touring, releasing his first full-length studio recording Black Sheep in 1996, followed two years later by a major label debut on Atlantic Records, The American, produced by Danny Kortchmar. His second album on Atlantic, Wonder Bar, came out in 2000 and was self-produced by Sexton.

Following his departure from Atlantic, he formed his own independent label, Kitchen Table Records, and released 2002's Live Wide Open, a two-disc live album. Camp Holiday, a seasonal album of Christmas standards, came out in 2005, then "Seeds" in 2007, finally followed by his latest original live album is Solo, released in 2008. In early 2009, Solo won in The 8th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Live Performance Album. Sexton was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.

That year, his song "Diner" reached a wide TV audience when it appeared in the Scrubs episode "My Night to Remember."

Style

Sexton's music blends many genres of American music, including soul, gospel, country, rock, blues, and R&B. He is known for his wide vocal range and ability to improvise. He is also known for beatboxing and scat singing guitar solos. Onstage, he often plays finger style guitar.

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin Sexton