SEXSMITH, RON

On the title Hangover Terrace:

“One day my band and I were travelling to the London Palladium and we passed a place called "Hanover Terrace" to which Don Kerr (drummer in Ron’s band) quipped "Hangover Terrace". Anyway, I had a sort of lightbulb moment and felt right away that was going to be the title. It speaks of this hangover I feel from the last few years of pandemic and life knocking us around.”

On the lyrical feel of Hangover Terrace:

“My last few albums actually had a feeling of rural contentment. Hangover Terrace feels more wounded to me. The world since the pandemic went off the rails a bit and every nerve seemed quite raw. I had some falling outs with a few friends and so there's some self-examination going on and a desire to know who my real friends are. It also deals with the passing of time and how things become more dear.”

On inspiration:

“It just sort of happens by nature of where I am in my life. I'm always in a different place emotionally which I think is true of most people. I walk everyday and it gives me lots of time to work out things in my head. I never worry about repeating myself. The 31 year old Ron from my debut album could not write these songs and the 61 year old Ron could not have written those songs. Life hits us at different stages and gives us new perspectives, regrets, insecurities and new dreams to contemplate and set to music.”

On songwriting

“I still write as I walk but I think it has changed in subtle ways. I think I'm much better at troubleshooting whenever I get stuck on a verse or something. Some songs still take weeks or months to write while others take only hours or days. I find I work more on piano than I used to but usually I just go to whatever instrument is closer to me. The lyrics are always the hardest part and that'll probably never change.”

Ron Sexsmith is one of Canada’s most accomplished singer-songwriters. Born and bred in St Catharines near Niagara Falls and currently resident in Stratford, Ontario, he has released 17 studio albums to date. 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’.