Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Martin Sexton

When he recorded The American in 1998, singer-songwriter Martin Sexton took a road trip through human emotion and gave voice (and in some cases, dialects) to characters he found along the way — in three octaves. The American was Sexton’s major-label debut. It was a surprise performance that came out of left field and jacked the singer’s status to something approaching stardom. Remarkable, really, for a graduate of a lackluster Boston folk scene.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Now comes Sugarcoating, an everyman collection of songs that finds Sexton mired in the same crap as the rest of us. “Had enough of the stuff they been feeding me,” sings the mid-40s converted folkster, “on the daily nightly news/ and I’d climb the Statue of Liberty/ just to get a better view.” In 13 tracks, Sexton comments on the war, love and fidelity, lost friendship, and our callow drive for material gain. At times he plays it off like a man in a 12-step program who must make amends. “My heart is a thundercloud,” he sings, “and the rain wants out, wants out, it wants out.”

Martin Sexton has an uncommon voice that does more work than any one man’s voice should be able to do. It is a convincing baritone and the upper reaches of his tenor are sweet, but the midrange is where he delivers the goods and conjures emotions. Overripe but never smarmy in the way of boy pop, Sexton maintains a soul-singer approach to music from within the frame of a singer-songwriter. Sugarcoating might at first seem a back-door attempt at self-pity, but at the end of a day Sexton still believes in something. “Aim for the stands/ Sneak under the bleachers,” he offers as advice to his infant son. “Raise up your hand/ Question your teachers.”

Past Event

Martin Sexton

  • Thursday, May 6, 2010, 8 p.m.
  • Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Avenue, Solana Beach
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches

When he recorded The American in 1998, singer-songwriter Martin Sexton took a road trip through human emotion and gave voice (and in some cases, dialects) to characters he found along the way — in three octaves. The American was Sexton’s major-label debut. It was a surprise performance that came out of left field and jacked the singer’s status to something approaching stardom. Remarkable, really, for a graduate of a lackluster Boston folk scene.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Now comes Sugarcoating, an everyman collection of songs that finds Sexton mired in the same crap as the rest of us. “Had enough of the stuff they been feeding me,” sings the mid-40s converted folkster, “on the daily nightly news/ and I’d climb the Statue of Liberty/ just to get a better view.” In 13 tracks, Sexton comments on the war, love and fidelity, lost friendship, and our callow drive for material gain. At times he plays it off like a man in a 12-step program who must make amends. “My heart is a thundercloud,” he sings, “and the rain wants out, wants out, it wants out.”

Martin Sexton has an uncommon voice that does more work than any one man’s voice should be able to do. It is a convincing baritone and the upper reaches of his tenor are sweet, but the midrange is where he delivers the goods and conjures emotions. Overripe but never smarmy in the way of boy pop, Sexton maintains a soul-singer approach to music from within the frame of a singer-songwriter. Sugarcoating might at first seem a back-door attempt at self-pity, but at the end of a day Sexton still believes in something. “Aim for the stands/ Sneak under the bleachers,” he offers as advice to his infant son. “Raise up your hand/ Question your teachers.”

Past Event

Martin Sexton

  • Thursday, May 6, 2010, 8 p.m.
  • Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Avenue, Solana Beach
Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Next Article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.