“It’s an exciting year: I’ve got a brand-new record and a new band. I feel strongly about the songs I’m singing and we look forward to hopping on the bus and spreading it around the world,” Sexton said.

The folk singer-songwriter’s headlining dates kick off March 19 at The Depot in Salt Lake City and run through June 5 at Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York.

Additional shows include the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. (April 16), Park West in Chicago (April 23), The Fillmore in San Francisco (May 7), Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver (May 13) and The Pageant in St. Louis.

Sexton plays Bonnaroo June 11 at Great Stage Park in Manchester, Tenn., and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at Fairgrounds Racecourse April 29.

Ryan Montbleau Band will open all shows. More dates will be added soon.

Sexton then joins Dave Matthews Band on the road from June 23’s gig at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston, Mich., through a June 30-July 1 two-night stand at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, N.J.

Sugarcoated is set for release April 6 on Sexton’s own KTR label.

“Each song is so stylistically different from the next,” Sexton said about his latest studio album.

“I’ve always preferred records that range, sort of like the White Album from ‘Rocky Raccoon’ to ‘Revolution No. 9.’ At one time industry types tried to convince me to stick one genre, but it was like wearing a suit that didn’t fit.”

According to Bonnaroo’s Web site, Sugarcoated was recorded with a studio band that featured drummer Dave Mattacks, guitarist Duke Levine, bassist Marty Ballou and keyboard player Tom West.

“I recorded this album with no rehearsals, no pre-production, using all vintage gear from what went into the mics to what came out onto the analog tape. The fellas and I gathered around the big kitchen table at the studio, I’d play them the song, then we’d go in and start tracking. We nailed every one of them in four or five takes at most, and a couple are take ones. I like making records like the old jazz guys did— they just showed up and worked it out.”
   
Click here for Martin Sexton’s Web site.