Exclusive: Martin Sexton 'Mixtape of the Open Road' Album Premiere
By Gary Graff | February 03, 2015



Martin Sexton figures the title of his eighth studio album, Mixtape of the Open Road, says it all.

"The concept of this record is that it's the mixtape, just like when your friends knew you were taking that California trip and wanted to inspire you along the way," the Massachusetts-based troubadour tells Billboard. "I've always wanted to make a concept album. My records have always been range-y, so I've always wanted to make, like, a Nashville 1972 a la George Jones kind of record or a Sons of the Pioneers thing or a bluegrass thing or a Zeppelin-esqe/Black Sabbath hard rock album. Or a folk record. I've always wanted to do that."

Sexton says he "sort of set out to do that" on this album but wound up finding a way to turn that similarly broad spectrum of styles into a concept all its own.

"I started writing the songs and they started telling me what they wanted to be, each of them," Sexton explains. "They were like kids, each growing up to be their own thing, so I couldn't do one specific concept. But as I recorded them I thought, 'This is like a mixtape, this record, so I'll just go with that.' From there I just stepped on the gas and tried to make each song come from its own place."

Sexton says the process of making Mixtape of the Open Road, which comes out Feb. 10, was "a lot of fun." On many of the songs --- such as the first single "Remember That Ride" and the Grateful Dead-flavored "Shut Up and Sing" -- he exulted in being able to "whip out my old (Fender) Stratocaster and my old (Gibson) SG short-scale bass that I hadn't played in decades, and it was great. The strings on (the bass) I used on my very first record 20 years ago. I kinda made it sound like a washtub bass on one track, and like a (Fender) Precision bass on another track and an upright on another. I had a great time."

Throughout the recording, Sexton says he hearkened back to favorite mixtapes from his own life, some of his favorite being ones coming from "the very early phases with my wife, way back in the infantile days of our relationship. There was some turbulence for various reasons; I was feeling quite unsure and uncertain about the future with this woman who I was deeply in love with, and she wanted to assure me that her love was true and inspire me to wait for her. So she sent me this mixtape with various tunes on -- some deep U2 cuts and Shelby Lynne and Elvis tunes that got the message across loud and clear and made me feel much better. I took a great deal of comfort in that."

Sexton says the 12 tracks on Mixtape represent his full output for the project. "There might have been one or two others that were considered but that I didn't finish writing," he says. "Then again, every track on the record I didn't quite finish writing until I was in the studio. Most of the songs were 70 percent written, lyrically, and then being there in front of the mic with the tapes rolling is a great motivator."

He says he'd like to return to some of his other conceptual ideas for his next project but does not rule out the idea of a sequel Mixtape collection down the road, either. "I just might do that," Sexton says. "I had such a good time on this one, it'd be fun to go back to that again."

Before anything, however, Sexton is hitting the road with a North American tour that starts Feb. 12 in Louisville and wraps June 6 in Hartford, Conn. He's planning select shows and festivals for the summer, followed by "another huge run" in North America and also Europe during the fall.