VIA PRESS RELEASE | Half man, half melody Ron Sexsmith will release a new album entitled The Vivian Line on 17th February ’23. The first single “What I Had In Mind” is available at all reputable digital thingys today and you can order it (or even pre-order it!) and pre-save it now for when it’s finally available in all its glory here. The animated video for “What I Had In Mind” was made by C.J. Wallis at Fortyfps Films in Vancouver. The Vivian Line is Ron Sexsmith’s 17th album. It features 12 new songs written and performed by Ron.
The who, what, where, why and how of the record are best explained by Ron himself: “The Vivian Line is a rural route right near where we live in Stratford (Ontario). Whenever we have to get out of the city we jump on The Vivian Line and it dumps us out onto the highway. I wondered about the name when we first moved there and thought it was intriguing… it sort of represents escaping from our old life in Toronto to this new phase we’re in. And it’s also like a portal to my old life when I have to get back there. I recorded it (The Vivian Line) with Brad Jones in Nashville. (Brad played bass on 3 of my earlier records Other Songs, Whereabouts, and Blue Boy) and it’s a very lush sounding almost baroque pop record. (A distant cousin of Whereabouts.) The songs were mostly inspired by this stage in life that I find myself in and trying to figure it all out.”
Ron Sexsmith is one of Canada’s most accomplished singer-songwriters. Born and bred in St Catherine’s near Niagara Falls and currently resident in Stratford, Ontario, he has released 16 albums to date—Grand Opera Lane (1991), Ron Sexsmith (1995), Other Songs (1997), Whereabouts (1999), Blue Boy (2001), Cobblestone Runway (2002), Rarities (2003), Retriever (2004), Destination Unknown (2005, with Don Kerr, released as Sexsmith & Kerr), Time Being (2006), Exit Strategy Of The Soul (2008), Long Player Late Bloomer (2011), Forever Endeavour (2013), Carousel One (2015), The Last Rider (2017) and Hermitage (2020).
He has collaborated with the likes of Daniel Lanois, Mitchell Froom, Ane Brun, Tchad Blake, and Bob Rock. His songwriting appears on albums from Rod Stewart, Michael Bublé, k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris, and Feist. Film-maker Doug Arrowsmith made an acclaimed documentary about Ron in 2010 called Love Shines. In 2017 Ron published his first book, a fairy tale entitled Deer Life. Producer of The Vivian Line, Brad Jones is a music producer, and power pop singer/songwriter. He has produced music for Josh Rouse, Cotton Mather, Chuck Prophet, Matthew Sweet, Imperial Drag, Jill Sobule, and Marshall Crenshaw.
