Performing in Fernie March 11

Juno Award-winning artist Stephen Fearing is returning to Fernie March 11 for a show at The Arts Station.

Fearing is touring to promote his latest album, Between Hurricanes, appearing seven years after his Juno Award-winning tour de force Yellowjacket.

His newest release marks a pronounced change in his life since his 2006 Juno success, which was a time marker.

“Though I didn’t know it at the time, it marked the end of many things and the beginning of so many more,” Fearing related. “My marriage of 14 years ended shortly after the record came out. Hard on the heels of this devastation, True North Records – my home on record for over a decade – changed hands. I was still under contract to them, but it quickly became apparent that it was time for me to move on. Around the same time, my dear friend and manager Bernie Finkelstein started to make noises about cutting back on his workload. Bernie and I had been together through thick and thin for over 16 years, but I realized that it was time to let go of the old ties and step out into the brave new world of true independence.”

With that new emboldened spirit in place, Fearing did not sit on his laurels after his last Juno win.

He moved from his Guelph, Ont. Home to Halifax, NS, joined Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, recorded and released Kings and Queens, a Polaris Prize-nominated set featuring 14 duets with such legends as Emmylou Harris, Roseanne Cash and Lucinda Williams) and he also released his acclaimed collaboration with Irishman Andy White – Fearing & White.

And then he began working on his eighth album – Between Hurricanes.

The album’s 11 tracks were shaped with the idea of crafting a solo record while not employing a traditional ‘folk music’ approach. Fearing and John Whynot put their focus on the fundamentals of the songs while developing subtle atmospheres to surround them. The minimal arrangements range from the finely honed piano, bass, and drum accents on ‘As The Crow Flies’ to the ethereal synths on ‘Cold Dawn.

The tale of a helicopter crash in Newfoundland, Cold Dawn acts as a thesis statement for the record. Told in first-person narrative, the song’s mood wraps around the story, giving added weight to every repeat of the refrain, “Into the dark.”

The hushed ‘Fool’ follows suit. Against the chirping of crickets, the song floats in sober meditation. No instrument presents itself as the lead. Passing moments simply fade in and out of each other. The stillness of the track is cut quickly by the shuffling blues of ‘Keep Your Mouth Shut,’ which arrives with the subtly of a Mack truck driving through a wake, Fearing’s press kits relates.

“This album marks a new beginning. Stephen is taking things on as a totally independent artist for the first time as he faces a quickly changing music industry,” said Matt Charlton of Pigeon Row public relations.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

---

Article Share

---