Ron Sexsmith Literally Runs Away From Songwriters Circles

"I didn't know that though till we were halfway finished it," a still somewhat bemused Ron Sexsmith admits of the "happiest" album he's yet produced, Carousel One. "But it wasn't until halfway through the sessions that I realised, looking at the list that was on the wall at the studio, 'Wow, none of these seem like downers, really,'" he chuckles. "'They're all pretty outgoing or something.' So that was a nice surprise, especially after my last record [2013's Forever Endeavour], which was a lot more introspective. I mean I never really know why songs turn out the way they do. The one before that [2011's Long Player Late Bloomer] was more uptempo but was kind of grumpier lyrically. This album, there's more humour on it and I don't really know why but I'm happy about it.

"[My wife] went into the dressing room and gathered all our things, put them in the car and had the engine running for when it was all over ."

"The songs were sort of written in two different batches actually. Half the songs were written while I was waiting for Forever Endeavour to come out, and then the other half were written while I was touring that record around. I also had a few different producers that were gonna do the album originally that for whatever reason fell through. I had the hardest time trying to find a producer, so by the time Jim Scott came around I had about 30 songs. Then it was just a matter of which ones feel sort of like a record."

Introduced to Sexsmith by mutual friend Kevin Hearn from Barenaked Ladies, the Valencia, California-based Jim Scott is probably best known for his work with Wilco, but his CV includes albums for the Stones, Ryan Bingham, the Dixie Chicks and even Crowded House and Missy Higgins.

Performing at folk festival songwriters circles inspired Carousel One's Getaway Car.

"That's a true story, that line, so it was kind of fun to throw that into a song," he chuckles. "I'm not a fan of these sorts of things. In fact I have a hard time getting gigs at folk festivals 'cause they always insist that you do these songwriters circles and I don't really enjoy them, and I was doing one this time at Niagara Falls that was so bad and my wife was in the audience and she could just see that I was not enjoying it, and so she went into the dressing room and gathered all our things, put them in the car and had the engine running for when it was all over so we could just run out the back door and take off. They wanted me to come out later and sing this finale with everybody, so that line was just sort of about the kind of psychic thing that happens when you've been with someone long enough, where they can read your mind from across the room."