Since the release of his his 13^th album Forever Endeavor Ron Sexmith has been on a whirlwind of promotion and concert dates internationally. He returned to familiar ground this week with an Alberta tour that kicked off Tuesday night at the Grand Theatre in Calgary.

"I am kind of a nervous traveler but in Canada I always feel totally relaxed about everything. I am not a big fan of airports and flying, I get stressed out. But even the airports in Canada seem kind of low key. It is a familiarity I guess. I didn't always do well in Canada, my first few albums I think people thought I was from England. So now it is nice when we play people show up and it feels more established here." Sexsmith told GayCalgary Magazine. We spoke with him on the phone just days after returning home from the South by Southwest Music Festival in in Austin, Texas.

"It was good. South by Southwest, I get a little overwhelmed by it. They had me hopping around with my guitar doing panels and a showcase. I had just gotten back from Europe so I was still kind of jet lagged, I spent the first two nights after my panels going to bed early. The last showcase I did made my whole week for me, it was a really nice room and we had a good crowd. It means different things for different people; for me when I am there I am trying to let people know about my new album."

Sexsmith recently marked an achievement he didn't think possible, adding his name to the list of artists that have headlined the famed Royal Albert Hall in London.

"That was so big it wasn't even a goal of mine, I try to be realistic even when I dream. I have played the Royal Albert Hall before as an opening act and thought that is all I would ever be. When my agent told me about a year ago that he had me penciled in to play there I was in disbelief. When the big night came it was incredible. I flew my parents over, we had over 3000 people. That is a night that is really going to be hard to beat. My dream was always to play Massey Hall and that will always be one of the biggest nights of my career, but this went even beyond that because I didn't think it was possible."

When Sexsmith plays historic venues like Royal Albert, Massey Hall or Calgary's Grand Theatre, the thought of the legends that have taken the stage there is on his mind.

"I am very aware of the history. When you walk out on the stage there is a feeling that you need to rise to the occasion, there are ghosts that have played there and blown people away. It feels like a big responsibility. When we put on a show we are aware of the history and what we are up against."

Many artists from Neil Young to Dallas Green to kd Lang have a great deal of success in Europe, especially the UK. Sexsmith is included on that list of popular Canadians, and he reflected on why there is such a strong connection between Canadian artists and UK fans.

"Being a commonwealth country a lot of people like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell - and Leonard Cohen went a long way to securing the songwriting legacy over there - and Canadians have pretty high standard in that medium. When I came out I was aware of that legacy and it is something I am trying to uphold. Canadians have a good reputation and artists doing well there is largely because of the people that paved the way for someone like me to come through with a guitar. When my first album came out there was an expectation that you are from Canada you'd better be good. I feel that every day whenever I travel, I am very up front about where I come from and the history."

With multiple albums under his belt Sexsmith has become a pro at handling the promotional aspects of releasing a album.

"The same things come up. When I finished this album it was January of 2012 so I had a whole year of waiting around and sitting at home. Around November leading up to the album being released things started happening. Then it gets exciting because it is finally coming out and I am going on promo trips and shooting promo videos for the record. That is what happens every record, sometimes when I am out touring you don't want to do much promo because you want to save your voice for the show. Sometimes on the day of the show they have you playing at a record store, that can be a bit exhausting. I am lucky that anyone is interested at all, I know there are a lot of people who put out a record and can't get any press at all. So it is just part of the job."

Sexsmith has always been very personal in his songwriting, and such is the case with his current album Forever Endeavor.

"It is a very wistful album, I don't know why that is it just sort of happened. It may be because I am turning 50 this year and I can look back on past behaviour and some mistakes I've made and address it. When you are in the middle of writing a record it is hard to see if there is a thread until the songs are done. Then you sequence it in a way that it tells a story. I had a bit of a health scare that influenced some of the songs where they found a lump in my throat. That was a three month period of waiting for test results. So the album came out of a combination of things."

Sexsmith has a long list of fans in the music industry including Elton John, Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney to name a few. Another fan is Coldplay's Chris Martin who was featured on the 2002 track Gold In Them Hills.

"I was on tour when they were in LA mixing my record. I knew Chris was a fan, we had opened for him in Sydney. My producer told me that Chris was coming by the studio to hear my new record. A month and a half later they sent me a CD called gold in these hills remix. I didn't know what that was so I put it on and when the second verse came on I realized it wasn't me singing and I didn't know who it was. It kind of created this drama for one day as I was upset they had taken my voice off and put someone else's voice in. When I found out it was Chris Martin it dawned on me that he had come by the studio that day. I was a bit bothered that nobody asked me first, but because I was touring they couldn't get a hold of me so it just kind of happened. I love Chris Martin, and they took us on the road for that whole year through the states, they were really good to us."

Respected by his peers and critics alike, commercial success has never come to Ron Sexsmith at the level he deserves. It can be challenging at times to continue to push forward but at his core he is a songwriter with music waiting to come out.

"It is really all I do. When I found I could write songs it changed everything. I wasn't really good at many things. I get discouraged sometimes when records come out and there is not a lot of interest and I will say that's it I won't make any more records. But what happens is I start writing more songs and then I get all excited again. It is a never ending cycle that you can't break away from. It is a great outlet for whatever you are feeling. That is my only motivation when I start writing songs I get that feeling again that I want to make another record. There is something about albums to me that is like a book or movie, it is 10 or 12 songs that fit together in one place. That is all I have ever tried to do. I always hope the albums will do well but even if they don't I never regret making them."

In addition to Tuesday's Calgary date Sexsmith visited St. Albert on Wednesday and Red Deer, Canmore and Lethbridge later in the week. Playing smaller markets is something he has had a desire to do for a long time, and he was excited to be here.

"I just love going to them because for the longest time all I did was major cities. I would get jealous of Blue Rodeo that would go to these smaller markets and I would go why can't I go there? So with the last album we started to branch out and go to these smaller markets. People really appreciate it when you show up and it is a great place for people, they get left out by bigger bands or have to travel to see bands. So if you get out there to them, they don't forget, so I have been trying to branch out even more."