SB: Is that just because of the industry these days?
MS: It’s basically the industry. It’s hard to break an act. I’m thankful for what I have in America.
Photo of the Green Apple Festival in San Francisco by Carly Perez
SB: Do you think other artists can adapt your model of having a green tour?
MS: Oh yeah. I know they can, I did it. I wish some of the really enormous tours like the Rolling Stones would do it. These guys carry 50 tractor trailers and 30 buses, and they all stay in hotels and use huge amounts of products. If just one of those bands adapts the model it would set an example for the rest of the world.
SB: What makes a tour a “green tour?”
MS: The fuel for the bus was bio-diesel. All of the bottles and plasticwear and whatnot, and there is a lot that is generated on tour, was all recyclable. All of the food that we ate was organic for the most part. All the apparel that we sold at shows and on the web site like t-shirts and hats are made of organic cotton. The record itself was printed on recycled paper. That’s it in a nutshell.
SB: Moving forward are these things that you’ll continue doing on the road?
MS: Oh yeah, most definitely. Any record I put out, I’ll probably do the same thing. It’s definitely doable. It costs a little more, but it’s worth it.
SB: Can we expect anything special at the final gig of the Seeds tour at Roseland on Friday Night?
MS: I think what it will be is sort of a variety pack of everything we did this past year. The show will have me playing solo, it will have me with the band, it will have me with just a drummer, it will have me standing around one old microphone with the fellas bluegrass style. The show will have a lot of variety to it, because we developed a number of different approaches playing all over this year. So it will encompass all those different styles.
We played the Nokia Theater in April when the record came out. I liked the show, but it was our second show ever playing together. What happens over nine months playing together is that you develop a certain style and comfort level that you can’t get without playing every night for nine months. I’m looking forward to the show because we’ve really grown since April.
SB: Failure is one of the songs on Seeds that really struck me. I think it’s cool to recognize that sometimes failure leads you on a better path you may have ever imagined. How have some of your failures set you up for a later success?
MS: A big glowing failure for me was studying as a kid out of high school back in Syracuse where I’m from. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life so I was listening to all the voices around me saying “you can’t do it with music, no one does that, you need to get a job.” I studied for this real estate license and failed the test. So I couldn’t become a Realtor in New York State. What I did was I cut my mullet and I joined a band. That was the best thing for me at that time. If I had passed that test, if I hadn’t failed, I could very well be selling houses.
SB: We probably wouldn’t be talking right now…
MS: Exactly. I’d probably be selling houses in the most depressed real estate market in the country.
SB: Recently one your songs, Diner, was featured in an episode of Scrubs. How did that come about?
MS: Someone at Touchstone, who is a fan of mine and likes to use my music when appropriate, placed it with Scrubs. And there it was. I didn’t argue. I said “Sure, do it up.”
SB: Did you enjoy the finished product?
MS: Yeah, I think it looks great. It’s TV, ya know… the only bad TV is none.
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Martin Sexton’s Diner on Scrubs
SB: You recently took Ryan Montbleau along on part of your tour. What did you think about Ryan’s music and his approach?
MS: Oh we loved him, he was great. He’s a hopeful joyful cat, and we loved him so much we had him sleep on our bus a few nights and we extended his stay on our tour and brought him to Canada. He stripped down the band to a trio for the tour, and it really worked great. People loved him.
SB: It’s been a long tour — how do you keep your sanity on tour? What non-musical activities help you pass the time?
MS: I like to go looking at old things. Y’know old junk, antiques, flea markets and thrift stores. I love to go thrift store shopping for old clothes.
SB: Did you find anything cool this tour?
MS: No, we really didn’t find much cool. In fact I didn’t come home with anything. I think it’s because we did all our traveling at night. All the bus traveling was done through the night so by the time it’s daytime we’d be at the next show so there wasn’t really any opportunity to do a whole lot of that.
But to answer the first part of your question: I think this tour was kept me sane was the company I surrounded myself with. I was continually surrounded by nine great people. We had fun. Some nights we just jammed in the back lounge of the bus, or we’d just talk, or hike if we could in the redwoods of California or wherever.
SB: Martin, thanks for your time, and enjoy your well deserved vacation.
7 Responses
Pretty cool about Scrubs…they always have great music on that show. They featured Colin Hay’s acoustic “Overkill” in the first or second season, which inspired me to get into his solo catalog. Very cool.
The “Seeds” record was also just honored with “Album of the Year” in Boston the other night. The tour was excellent!! I made six shows this year. One solo, four w/ the his new band, and one classic 2pc. Now thats fresh. Draw an eight hour circle around your hometown, and if Sexton is playing anywhere in it….GO! It’ll be the best $15-20 bucks you have spent in a very longtime. Great article, thanks.
Marty’s great. I got to prepare a private dinner for him a few years ago before a show in Colorado. I found him to be very likable on a personal level. He is so dedicated that when I saw him before another show a couple of years ago, he wouldn’t talk because he was trying to save his voice. He would only nod his head or write notes. I love his stuff but, don’t you think the cover of the album channels Derek Zoolander’s “Blue Steel?” I’m just saying.
So glad Martin and wife will have a vacation for a month or so…touring is hard work and Martin puts everything into it. 2007 was a great Martin Sexton year for me…got to see him perform three times at the Edmonton Folk Festival where he wasn’t feeling up to par but it was great anyway. My two sons got to see him perform for the first time ever and one of them loved him, which is huge for me! To top it off I got to actually meet and talk to him twice! Then I saw him in my hometown of Calgary and since I was the one-person street team, I enjoyed VIP treatment at Mac Hall and formally met him after the show with his wife. That was the best I’ve ever seen him perform. Come back to Calgary soon, Martin! You know we loves ya here! I tried hard to harmonize but it’s hard I can’t sing, haha!