Artist’s Life: Ron Sexsmith

By Ron Sexsmith  |  October 18, 2005 | 12:00am
Music Features Ron Sexsmith

Upon release of his own duo disc, Destination Unknown with Don Kerr, the singer/songwriter discusses great duets

“Bird Dog” was the first song I heard The Everly Brothers sing. My mother had it in this box of dusty 45s along with the beautiful ballad “Crying in the Rain.” I was always drawn to distinct voices like Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash and Bing Crosby, but with the Everlys, you got two distinct voices for the price of one. Two-part harmony always gave me shivers whether it was Don and Phil, John and Paul (or Art and Paul for that matter).

I remember listening intently to songs like “If I Fell” by The Beatles, trying to determine who was singing what. Recently, on a trip back from Montreal, my guitarist Tim Bovaconti and I attempted a backseat version of it, which didn’t sound too bad.

When I started playing music with Don Kerr in 1987, right away I noticed his high, clear voice and great ear for harmony (not to mention his knack for singing while drumming). If you go back to our indie record Grand Opera Lane, you can hear us harmonizing on a few songs.

Another revelation for me came in 1996 when I saw Charlie Louvin perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Kay Clary, my publicist at the time, filled me in on The Louvin Brothers’ history and how they’d influenced The Everly Brothers’ sound. The next day I bought their compilation When I Stop Dreaming which was quite life-changing for me. It felt like I’d discovered buried treasure.

I turned Don on to this CD and—while we were demo-ing for Other Songs—we even cut their song “You’re Learning.” And so time and the struggle that is the record industry marched on and to my relief, I was allowed to keep making records, most of which Don lent his voice to.

An Overgrown Side Project

It never occurred to me, though, to make a two-part- harmony album until I found myself with this nostalgic batch of songs, mostly left over from Retriever. While on tour, I played the songs for Don, and it started taking shape. We never intended for it to be more than a side project to sell on tour. But before it was finished, we started hearing that various labels wanted to put it out.

When I grew up, an LP was just a record with 10 or 12 songs, like the Eddy Arnold or Charlie Rich albums my parents listened to, never “arty” and seldom with any overt concept—just a singer or band you admired performing good songs with nice arrangements and a picture on the cover. That’s all we wanted to do with Destination Unknown. Looking back on my other records, I guess it’s really all I’ve ever wanted to do.

Nowadays there’s so little harmony in the world. There’s a lot of fear out there with extreme voices coming from all sides and little tolerance for opinions that run counter to our own. I guess the very meaning of harmony is all about blending and coming together to create something more beautiful, like when two become one.

With Don’s and my new album, Destination Unknown, in the spirit of The Louvins and The Everlys, we come together to harmonize and ruminate on childhood, lemonade stands and tree houses, broken homes and life in general. It’s a tradition Don and I have the utmost respect for. We hope we haven’t let the whole thing down.

 
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