Internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith will headline this year’s BarrieFolk: Roots Music Festival.
Sexsmith maps the human heart with surgical skill and great compassion. He offers us hard-earned pieces of wisdom, all set to strong yet gentle melodies and sung unaffectedly, with emotional eloquence and genuine soul. These are his creative signatures, and they have earned the Toronto-based singer/songwriter immense respect from his peers, critics, and a devoted international audience.
These assets are vividly displayed on Time Being, the latest addition to a formidable catalogue. The Toronto Star recently noted that “Ron Sexsmith has produced a body of quality work that’s un-equalled in contemporary Canadian music in originality and musical daring.” It is no stretch to extend that statement into the international arena, as a vast number of Ron’s peers would agree.
A multiple Juno nominee over the past decade, Sexsmith has taken home trophies in 1998 (Roots & Traditional Album of the Year for Other Songs) and 2004 (the much-coveted Songwriter of the Year Juno for songs from Retriever). Ron received two more nominations in 2006, for Roots & Traditional album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year for Destination Unknown, the much-praised collaboration with longtime musical comrade Don Kerr. He also played a key part in the Juno-winning World Music Album of the Year, Humo De Tabaco, from the Alex Cuba Band. Ron added guest vocals to the track “Lo Mismo Que You (If Only),” a song that became a U.K. hit.
