Busking on the streets of Boston helped develop an artist to be who he wanted to be, and a Kentucky artist travels to Iceland to make her album.
This is episode 36 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for the list of songs and artists for the feature.
Martin Sexton left Syracuse for Boston to crash with his brother while he auditioned for some bands in the 1990’s, thinking he could play in a funk band. It never panned out and he found himself busking on sidewalks and subways. Inexperience gave him the freedom to discover the singer-songwriter he could be.
Joan Shelley’s album Like the River Loves the Sea was recorded in Iceland. She was looking to experience something and gain a new perspective. Iceland doesn’t have banjos so she used a resonator guitar tuned like a banjo and there wasn’t anything to make a tambourine sounds so her band ages were forced to get creative.
Caffe Lena: 60 years of Song, a production of WEXT Radio.