live @ the Birchmere 9.13.2000
Ron Sexsmith seems well on his way to becoming a great cult favorite. The Canadian singer-songwriter played to a crowd at the Birchmere Wednesday night that didn’t match the size of his considerable musical gifts, but those who did turn up were completely dedicated to Sexsmith, and were rewarded with a typically passionate performance.
Working with only his acoustic guitar, Sexsmith pledged to be fair to all three of his albums, and he was, from the opening “Still Time” to a three-song suite of “River Bed”, “Average Joe” and “There’s A Rhythm”, he visited all phases of his sensitive, pensive compositions. Stripped of his usual rock band surroundings, songs like “Lebanon, Tennessee” and the wistful “The Idiot Boy” recalled the plaintive early work of Jackson Browne with pieces of Harry Chapin story songs sewn in. Moving to the piano at one point (“all my heroes play the piano,” he said, “like Charlie Rich and...I guess that’s about it”) for “Wastin’ Time”, Sexsmith let his voice take over, displaying a gift for twisting melody that has made his songs favorites of singers like Mary Black and Rod Stewart, who both recently recorded Sexsmith tunes.
The 90-minute show also featured a jaunty cover of Christine McVie’s “Over My Head”, as well as a preview of songs from Sexsmith’s promising new Steve Earle-produced LP, which his supporters predict will be his breakthrough. Cult artists usually don’t have breakthroughs, though. They’re too busy writing great songs, giving great shows and leaving fans and critics scratching their heads as to why they aren’t enormously popular. Or at least as big as Elliot Smith.
Washington Post, September 2000
