SEXTON `MIXTAPE',
Martin Sexton carries his passion for ‘Mixtape’
Like any selfrespecting Gen Xer, Martin Sexton has a profound relationship with the lowly cassette. But the singersongwriter’s connection goes beyond the intense love so many had for their Fleetwood Mac or AC/DC tapes. Back in the early ’90s, Sexton peddled his cassettes to passers-by as he busked in Harvard Square.
“I’d sell them for nine bucks and, know what? People actually bought them,” Sexton said from his home in Western Massachusetts. “And then, when I finally started getting gigs at cafes, people would say, ‘Hey, you’re that dude from the street. I bought your cassette.’ ”
By 1995, Sexton graduated from T stops and cafes to clubs and a life on the road. But he never forgot about cassettes. For his last album, 2015’s “Mixtape of the Open Road,” he revisited the format.
“We had some copies of the album made on cassette, and I couldn’t keep them in stock,” he said with a laugh, ahead of his Saturday show at the Wilbur. “Everyone has that boombox in the attic, maybe an old Honda in the garage with a tape deck. Somehow cassettes have made a comeback.”
Sexton went beyond format for the release. He made sure the album recalled the style of the mixtape. “Mixtape of the Open Road” never settles on a single genre. Instead, it takes on old-school country (“Do It Daily”), fuzzed-out garage rock (“Remember That Ride”), whimsical jazz (“Doin’ Something Right”) and more. Sexton even does a spot-on homage to the Grateful Dead with “Shut Up and Sing.”
“I wanted to do a concept record, like maybe a classic bluegrass record or something. Then I started writing, and the songs didn’t seem to belong to one concept,” he said. “Then I hit on the mixtape idea. You know, the mix a friend made you when you were heartbroken or just graduated or were headed out on a road trip. Then I didn’t need to worry about all the songs sounding different.”
Sexton went so far as to dig out some of his old mixtapes and use them for the cover art. He’s loved the journey — and has enjoyed rearranging the material for his current trio with Boo Reiners (mandolin, banjo, guitar) and Chris Anderson (upright bass).
“I took a tip from the band Nickel Creek when I started in with these guys,” Sexton said. “I always thought I needed a drummer to groove. Nickel Creek showed me I didn’t. I can groove with these guys, and we’re getting closer to that bluegrass sound.”
So will he finally buckle down and make the bluegrass record he tried a few years ago?
“I haven’t written much for the next record — a song or two, some ideas — but I would like to go to Nashville and do an classic country record, a George Jones or Willie Nelson kind of thing,” he said. “I have shows scheduled through the spring, but I think I can get it done next year. This one will be simpler. Nashville, 15 days, some great players, and it’s done.”