Artist Bios
Fred Eaglesmith
The New Yorker magazine said it best: “If you’re missing Fred
Eaglesmith, you’re really missing out.” An award-winning and
acclaimed music auteur of the highest order, he has forged a
singular and distinctive legacy with his songs, recordings, live
performances, achievements and impact unlike that of anyone else
in contemporary music. And done so as a fiercely independent and
original artist through the sheer power of the music he creates.
His 17 albums over the last three decades — many of them
released on his own label — have consistently evoked critical
raves, and he’s been compared to a broad blue-ribbon list of
musical icons. His fellow songwriters regularly record his songs
and sing his praises. He hosts a number of music festivals
across North America, where he plays hundreds of dates a year in
addition to touring Europe and Australia. Devoted fans follow
him from one show to another to savor what one reviewer calls
the “fury and fun” of his concerts. His releases consistently
hit the upper reaches of the Americana charts, and he’s the only
Canadian to ever write a No. 1 bluegrass hit. His songs have
even become part of the course curriculum at two colleges, and
the paintings he creates when not making music have been shown
in numerous prestigious galleries.
His latest album, 2008’s Tinderbox, amply displays the
qualities that have made Eaglesmith a true cult phenomenon.
Nominated for a Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the
Year as well as making the short list for The Polaris Prize, the
Top 10 Americana chart album explores spirituality, faith, life,
love, labor and more within a full-blooded musical and lyrical
experience that draws from folk, country, rock, gospel, old-time
music, bluegrass and even spoken word to create a stunning
contemporary roots music all its own. It’s been hailed as a
“masterwork” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “milestone” and “one of
the best albums of last year” (San Jose Metro) as well as
“exceptional” (Americana Roots), “beautiful” (Ink 19), “magical”
(Houston Press), “magnificent” (Rave), “hypnotic” (Santa Barbara
News Press), “epic in scope and cinematic in effect” (Guelph
Mercury) and “a deep, sad and masterful album that transcends
genre and time. It is Tom Waits meets Pink Floyd meets Hank
Williams” (Calgary Herald).
Reviews of Tinderbox have also likened Eaglesmith to Bruce
Springsteen and Woody Guthrie as well Texas singer-songwriter
heroes Guy Clark, Steve Earle and Ray Wylie Hubbard (who says
that as far as songwriters go, Eaglesmith “may be the best”) and
even revered author James Agee to go alongside such previous
critical comparisons as John Prine, Link Wray, T Bone Burnett,
Del Shannon and, in his live shows, even Led Zeppelin. He
followed the album by crisscrossing America and Canada to
rapturous audience receptions as well as similar response on
tours to Holland, Belgium, Great Britain and Australia.
Eaglesmith comes by his exceptional musicality and lyrical
command naturally and honestly, through dedication to his craft
and delivery and building his following from the grassroots
upwards ever since he left the family farm at age 15 to become
an itinerant budding troubadour. His life story could in fact be
the subject of one of his songs, which is one reason why
Eaglesmith has such a deft touch for finding the literary
significance within the lives of seemingly common people and
rendering their tales, thoughts and feelings with profound
humanity and sensitivity alongside a knack for creating a
contextual sense of time and place that resonates with reality.
Hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer for his “devastatingly
good, economical songwriting,” and noted by the Arizona Daily
Star as “a prolific singer/songwriter often hailed as a genius
at his craft,” Eaglesmith has had his songs recorded by such
notable fellow songwriters as Toby Keith, The Cowboy Junkies,
Chris Knight, Kasey Chambers, Mary Gauthier, Todd Snider and Dar
Williams as well as bluegrass stars James King (who took
Eaglesmith’s “Thirty Years of Farming” to the top of the
bluegrass charts) and Ralph Stanley II, and has been the subject
of three tribute albums. Martin Scorsese and James Caan have
used his compositions in film projects, and Keith included
Eaglesmith’s recording of “Thinking ‘Bout You” in his film
“Broken Bridges” and its soundtrack CD. “His canon of well over
1,000 songs is stunning,” notes the New Brunswick Daily Gleaner.
In live performance, Eaglesmith and his band “rock like punks
on a mission.” and deliver “a truly timeless brand of primitive
rock’n’roll [that is] exactly like the sort of music you dream
of hearing in some crowded, hot, beery bar near closing time,”
observes Amazon.com in reviews of his live albums. Onstage he is
also a sharp between song raconteur whose tales and observations
are as keen and compelling as his songs and frequently as
hilarious as the best stand-up comedians. For many years
running, he has hosted the annual Roots on the River festival in
Vermont, the Fred Eaglesmith Texas Weekend at Gruene Hall (the
mother church of the Lone Star State music scene) and two more
yearly festivals in Canada. His youthful travels hopping freight
trains inspired the Roots on the Rails rolling music festivals,
for which he currently hosts two annual rail trips that ride
everywhere from scenic and historic narrow gauge lines in the
American West to, this last year, into the Canadian arctic.
Through it all, Eaglesmith remains modest and resolutely hard
working. He also gives generously of his time and talents to
such causes as his own fundraising initiative to equip migrant
farm workers with bicycles, reflectors and safety devices,
Reflections, as well as being a spokesman, along with Bono and
Alanis Morisette, for Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign. He also
does charity work for The Schizophrenia Society of Canada, The
Fur and Feather Wildlife Center, The Equestrian Association for
the Disabled, World Vision International and conservation
efforts near where he lives in Southern Ontario.
“I have the weirdest career in the world, a little tiny
career that works so well,” Eaglesmith concludes of the artistic
niche he has carved out for himself. “I’m just so lucky and so
fortunate, I try not to take it for granted.”
Visit Fred Eaglesmith's website at:
www.fredeaglesmith.com
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