Singer-songwriter Ron Sexmith has carved out a comfortable, critically acclimed niche for himself. Tony Clayton-Lea meets a contented Canadian who embraces success in modest doses

THE night before started in Dublin venue Whelan's with a promotional wheeze, a 20-odd-minutes fling of a gig wherein Ron Sexsmith played tracks from his new album. It's the morning after the night before, the piano in Lillie's Bordello had been drinking, and Ron regrets ever so slightly sipping that final alcoholic beverage. Still, there is business to be taken care of, so the genial Canadian singer-songwriter quells his rising nausea and just about gets into the promotional mood.

It's almost boring to say it, but Ron has made yet another excellent record; in fact, as something of Sexsmithophile, I'd venture to say that the latest, Time Being, is quite likely his best record to date. Everything is in place: the lyrics are the right side of poignant, emotive and realistic, while the melodies are up there with the very best of them. If, say, Paul McCartney released a record half as good, he'd be brought back into the fold and forgiven for Mull of Kintyre.

"I'm proud of all the songs," says Sexsmith with some justification. "With some albums, I'd say the production wasn't right, or that some songs needed redoing. But you never know when you're in the middle of it - you're just trying to do the best you can. I've always tried to be consistent, and work with people who I trust. It was great to work with the album's producer, Mitchell Froom, again. I just like the way he does things.

"And it is the right production, I think. Some of my earlier records sound quite eccentric, and were panned in strange ways because of it. I'm at the worrying stage now, where it's just out; I hope people like it, and hopefully it'll grow some legs, open some doors for me."

Sexsmith has plied his trade professionally for just over 10 of his 43 years; his early Toronto-based ambitions segued into a late start at the age of 30, when he finally came to the attention of a major record company (Interscope). Three albums in four years (1995's Ron Sexsmith, 1997's Other Songs, and 1999's Whereabouts) showed him to be a critics' favourite, but as major record companies no longer want (no matter how much they need) "prestige" acts (the kind that give a record company kudos, not cash). Ron was turfed out into the independent sector. He has thrived ever since, despite none of his previous seven records denting commercial charts.

Eight albums in 11 years, however, is quite prolific by contemporary standards. Did he ever think he'd reach that number?

"I always hoped I would. When I got signed, I was older than some people. I was 31 when my first album came out, and I always felt it was a race against time; to have a body of work and to keep up with what Beck and so on were creating. When I was on Interscope, they would sit on my records for months and months, and it was frustrating waiting for my life to begin.

"Ever since I've gotten away from the major labels, I've been able to be more prolific. It's not that I want to flood the marketplace with more records, but I want each one to be good."

Ron's ambitions have changed through the years; initially, he had a notion that he wanted to be a major rock star. It won't happen now, he reasons. "If there was a time, a moment, where I could have broken into the big commercial mainstream - in that big rock star way - then I feel it would have happened before now. These days, I think I could be one of those late bloomers, like Lucinda Williams or someone like that. That said, running from one side of the stage to the other and being hoisted into the air on wires aren't really my things.

"I just try to make music that I can grow old gracefully to. I never wanted to be a part of some big spectacle, anyway. Growing up, I'd see Canadian singers like Leonard Cohen and Gordon Lightfoot, and they'd deliver their songs. To me that was never boring; in fact, I always found it compelling. And that's the tradition I'm trying to uphold. I'd like to see myself touring and making records into my 60s."

Subtlety will out, then; and spectacle will remain an entity divided into derision and wonder. Through an association with Coldplay's Chris Martin, Ron has now experienced both sides of tour bus travel. Was it something of a dichotomy opening up (not once, but twice) for such a successful rock act?

"The first tour I enjoyed quite a bit because they were still playing smallish theatres, large clubs, and every night I felt I could actually get my music across to the crowd. By the second tour their popularity had advanced them to playing places like the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Gardens, and all these hockey arenas. With that came along the bandwagon-jumping audience, who were there just to hear Yellow, and who couldn't care less that Chris Martin liked the opening act.

"I did feel out of my element. Some nights were quite rough because through my entire set all you'd hear were people yelling for Coldplay. Not good for the self-esteem, as you can imagine, but it was great to see how the other half lived - on-tour catering, luxurious tour buses. Really lovely."

With thoughts of food and well-appointed tour buses, Ron is feeling slightly less in need of a pick-me-up. The hangover is receding, the new album is (oh, bugger quite likely) his best to date. Does he think he has achieved more or less what he set out to?

"In my teens I really wanted to be a rock star along the lines of Elton John. I used to be a member of his fan club! I wanted to tour, make records, do interviews, and I'm doing all of that, as well as making a living. I get recognised most places, but not in a way that I need bodyguards, just on a nice level.

"So it is a dream come true, and I try for the most part to be very grateful for that. I might complain occasionally about hitting a commercial wall, but on a good day I think it's amazing that I'm doing what I always wanted to do. I wanted it so badly. So yes, it's everything I hoped it would be."

Time Being is on release. Ron Sexsmith plays at the Sligo Live Festival on June 2nd-4th, and Whelan's, Dublin on June 3rd