“Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
- Nietzsche
Here's a favorite music memory. Back in the early 2000-aughts I was in a record store in Memphis. It was one of those big ones like we used to have like Peaches or Tower Records. This one, at the corner of Highland and Poplar, was called Spin, I think. It was a vast place with an acre of LP and CD bins. I was looking for something specific one evening and went up to the front to inquire. As was always the case, there was an album playing throughout the store of music deemed worthy by the staff (think High Fidelity). I recognized the voice on the record but not the specific song. The guy helping me was walking me back to what I was looking for and I asked him, “Is that Martin Sexton?”
He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me like I'd just told him I knew the name of his first dog. “You know who that is?" he said. I told him that yes, I was a fan and loved his first two albums but I didn't know this song. “It's his new record” he said. “Have you ever seen him live?” I said no I hadn't, that I'd never had the chance. He said, “Dude…I've seen him four times and every time it's like going to church. Don't miss him if you get the chance.” Noted.
Jump ahead a dozen years. I'd kept my eyes peeled; Martin Sexton was finally coming through Memphis, playing one weeknight at Minglewood Hall. I got two tickets and off Kendra and I went. Let me say this, Kendra has been a great sport over the years. She's willingly gone to most every obscure musical artist and act I've dragged her to. God bless her. She was vaguely familiar with Martin Sexton because I'd, no doubt, insisted at some point that she listen two a couple of his songs. And, also, she knew his song Diner from watching Scrubs.
We get there and he's playing one of the small rooms. There's maybe 50 people there. It's intimate. He comes out, he's solo, just him and his guitar. He plays and sings to the spellbound crowd for about 45 minutes and then says he'll take a break and be back. He walks off and there's total silence in the room. How do I describe the experience? Kendra actually said it. She turned to me after a time and said, “I feel like something holy just took place.” In that setting, the uniqueness of Martin Sexton's voice and his playing style cast some kind of spiritual spell over the gathering. I've been to hundreds of shows in every imaginable setting and I've never seen the likes of it. He came out and played a second set. It was more of the same. When it was over, everyone filed out like they were leaving some sacred site.
Since that night, Kendra and I have on occasion tried to tell people about what happened but like anything of the supernatural, you can't convey it. Like with many artists, what you hear on a record doesn't come close to seeing and hearing them live. There's no better example of that than Martin Sexton. More than once I've told a person, “It does't matter if you don't care one thing about music, go see Martin Sexton.” And that's what I'm telling you now.
Birthdays in Music: Elvin Bishop (1942) Guitarist - Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Steve Lukather (1957) Singer/Guitarist - Toto
Name That Movie: “Don't tell anyone you don't own ‘Blonde on Blonde.’ It's gonna be okay.”
RP