Martin Sexton Shines on the Steel City
by Bridgette Shade
(Pittsburgh, PA) Performing on the Main Stage at the Three Rivers Arts Festival on June 22, Martin Sexton seemed to fairly shine with sweat from the Steel City Sun.

Acting alone, armed only with amplifier, guitar and unmistaken voice, Sexton single-handedly silenced spectators and skyscrapers alike as each note reverberated through the city's buildings and ricocheted back into the hearts of every man, woman and child within earshot.

The outdoor venue took on characteristics of both a crowded blues bar and a Southern Baptist Gospel rally - an uncommon combination but part of Sexton's signature style.

His soulful sound and captivating stage presence transformed the crowd into a company of angels descendent upon Earth and transported them on a lyrical journey through life's joys and pains.

"Faith on the Table," and "Angeline," two upbeat tracks from his own Kitchen Table Records release, Wonderbar, kicked off the show. Followed by an emotionally charged, "Where Did I Go Wrong," about first apartments and first loves and "Can't Stop Thinking About You," a tune from the Black Sheep album.

"Hallelujah," another product of Wonderbar, crystallized the struggle between good and evil and the difficulty in distinguishing between the two.

"I dig the whole idea of the Southern Baptist thing…people dancing and moving to the rhythm, showing their gratitude for the grace of God," said Sexton. "It has become deeply instilled in me and shows itself a little bit more with each record."

The song, which sings of Satan and Elvis and Angels gone to Vegas, began in Sexton's Massachusetts's bathroom and ended in a deserted mansion motel during a raging snowstorm in the Adirondack Mountains of N.Y.

"It was just four walls, a bed and me," said Sexton. "I finished 'Hallelujah' and 'Faith on the Table' that night."

From Bible Belt to boogie woogie, "Diggin' You," from The American lp was followed by "Women and Wine," a track which appears on his 2002 Live Wide Open album- a culmination of over 50 concerts held across the country.

A master of musical improvisation, Sexton turned old favorites like, "Love Keep Us Together," "Glory Bound," and "Candy," into new jams with familiar references to unexpected pregnancies, apple fields and old cigars.

From bass to falsetto, Sexton's range, the personification of the supernatural forces about which he sings so prolifically, were brought to life in "Way I Am." With his head in the clouds and his feet on the ground, he finished the set with this song about self-reflection and change.

Sexton, who started out singing on street corners in Syracuse, N.Y., said he will continue to tour and spread the music - which lives like an insatiable parasite within him - swallowing up the world, bite by beautiful bite.

"I want to brew it up (the music) into a nice, thick stew that sticks to your ribs…something that you want to share with your friends and family and heat up with the leftovers again and again."

(Bridgette Shade is a freelance writer)