Folk singer and songwriter Colleen Sexton performed at Quinnipiac’s Buckman Theatre last Saturday, as part of the ninth annual Celebrating Women’s Creativity Conference.
Sexton played an intimate twelve song acoustic set for conference attendees, community members and students, and later led a workshop as part of the conference, called “Songwriting: Where to Start.”
Sexton, who had previous intentions of attending law school, was sidetracked from the educational route by aspirations of being a songwriter, and dropped out of law school after only two days.
Four short years later, she has included her concert at Quinnipiac as one of the dates on her tour that runs through April.
The petite songstress selected songs from her two solo recordings, including her Grammy nominated album, “Step Outside.”
Her debut disc, “Colleen Sexton Live,” featured collaborations with such blues and folk acts as Trina Hamlin and Tim Kelly.
Sexton is currently working on her next album, and treated concert attendees to an advance listen of some of the new songs.
When performing her own material, including “In Between,” an airy pop tune, and the thought provoking “Step Outside,” Sexton requested audience participation, well received by the crowd of mostly women.
During “In Between,” the songstress replaced one of her verses with “I was just playing down at Quinnipiac, and was chock full of creativity,” as a thank you for the invitation to play at the Creativity Conference. She told attendees that she thought the conference for women was a great idea.
Another selection, “Picking Up Sticks,” is one of the tracks off her new album. She explained this song as having a “roots rock sound to it,” and demonstrated this to the crowd using her unique voice and raging guitar playing, reminiscent of Alanis Morisette.
One of Sexton’s most well-received songs of the set was a unique cover of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” where Sexton enlisted the audience to help keep the beat by snapping their fingers while she sang.
“I don’t need you to sing, I just need your natural rhythm,” she joked.
This song also displayed Sexton’s unique scatting ability, allowing listeners to sit back and just groove to the song.
A fitting tribute to the end of her set was her cover of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” with a mellow, bluesy spin on the original song. The empowered crowd bobbed their heads to the beat, as Sexton thanked attendees for seeing her perform at such a unique event.
Colleen Sexton is on tour through April, and will be making stops at coffeehouses and nightclubs in Massachusetts, Maine, and New York. Her third solo album will be available in record stores this July.
