{{Short description|American musician (born 1966)}} {{for|the Irish politician|Martin Sexton (politician)}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians --> | name = Martin Sexton | image = | landscape = | caption = Sexton in 2021 | background = solo_singer | alias = | birth_date = {{birth-date and age|March 2, 1966}} | birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S. | death_date = | instrument = Vocals, guitar | genre = {{flatlist| * Americana * rock * blue-eyed soul * folk }} | occupation = Musician, songwriter, producer | years_active = 1991–present | label = Kitchen Table Records (KTR), Atlantic | website = {{URL|martinsexton.com}} }}
'''Martin Sexton''' (born March 2, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and music producer.
== Early life == Born in 1966,{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} Sexton grew up in Syracuse, New York, the tenth of twelve children in a working class Irish-American family.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/martinsexton/articles/story/5927097/martin_sexton_finds_joy_hope_and_wonder |last=St. Leger |first=Marie Elsie |title=Martin Sexton Finds Joy, Hope and Wonder |work=Rolling Stone |date=9 November 2000 |access-date=19 May 2009 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012080325/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/martinsexton/articles/story/5927097/martin_sexton_finds_joy_hope_and_wonder |archive-date=12 October 2009 }}</ref> He acquired his first guitar, a Sears & Roebuck acoustic model, at age 14.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}
== Career == In 1988, Sexton moved to Boston, and began playing on street corners and at open mic nights around the city.<ref name="Billboard">{{Cite web |title=Martin Sexton - Biography {{!}} Billboard |url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/309751/martin-sexton/biography |access-date=2016-01-13 |website=www.billboard.com}}</ref><ref name = "ASCAP">{{cite web | url = http://www.ascap.com/ear/sexton.html | title = Career Development: Martin Sexton | publisher = ASCAP | access-date = 2009-05-19}}</ref> Sexton released a collection of self-produced demo recordings in 1991 called ''In The Journey''. The album was released on an 8-track cassette, and Sexton sold 15,000 copies to fans.<ref name= "Billboard"/>
He was given the National Academy of Songwriters Artist of the Year Award in 1994.<ref name= "Billboard"/> He released ''Black Sheep'' in 1996 (season 6 episode 11 of the TV sitcom Scrubs featured track #3, "Diner"),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942764/ | title=My Night to Remember | website=IMDb }}</ref> an album called ''The American'' in 1998, and another album called ''Wonder Bar'' in 2000.<ref name= "Billboard"/> He launched his independent record label, Kitchen Table Records, in 2001 and released a concert album called ''Live Wide Open''.<ref name= "Billboard"/> His album, ''Seeds'', was released in 2007.<ref name= "Billboard"/>
In 2008, he released a second live album called ''Solo''.<ref name= "Billboard"/> Subsequent albums included ''Sugarcoating'' (2010), ''Fall Like Rain'' (2012).<ref name= "Billboard"/> and ''Mixtape of the Open Road'' (2015).<ref name= "Billboard"/>
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, 1992) *''Black Sheep'' (Koch International, 1996) *''The American'' (Atlantic Records, 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=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |+List of charted singles, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year ! scope="col" colspan="1"| Peak chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album |- ! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUS<br /><ref>{{cite Ryan|page=248}}</ref> |- ! scope="row"| "Love Keep Us Together" | 1999 | 75 | ''Black Sheep'' |}
===Other contributions=== *''Live & Direct – Volume 1'', WYEP-FM, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (1999) – "The American"<ref name = "WYEP" /> *''Live & Direct – Volume 3'', WYEP-FM, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (2001) – "Where Did I Go Wrong"<ref name = "WYEP">{{cite web | url = http://www.wyep.org/support/live_and_direct/ | title = Live & Direct CDs | publisher = WYEP-FM | access-date = 2009-05-19 | archive-date = 2009-04-21 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090421174618/http://www.wyep.org/support/live_and_direct/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> *''Live at the World Café - Volume 9'' (1999) – "The American"
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons category}} * [http://www.martinsexton.com Official site] * [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9323386 Audio recording of an NPR Interview] * [https://americansongwriter.com/2012/01/martin-sexton-fall-like-rain/ 2012 Interview with American Songwriter] {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sexton, Martin}} Category:Living people Category:1966 births Category:American folk guitarists Category:American male guitarists Category:American folk musicians Category:American fingerstyle guitarists Category:Musicians from Syracuse, New York Category:Independent Music Awards winners Category:American street performers Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Category:Guitarists from New York (state) Category:20th-century American guitarists Category:20th-century American male musicians Category:American male singer-songwriters