Fred Eaglesmith happy to keep rough edges in shows

Fred Eaglesmith

Fred Eaglesmith

Singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith is driving into Monta and he reckons he's lucky.

"No matter where I go in the world there's always 100 or 200 people willing to shell out 20 bucks to see me," says Eaglesmith, over his cell phone. "I can drive down some little sheep road in Scotland or Australia for eight hours and there's people who'll gather up in some shack or some barn or some hall to see my show. It's the best feeling in the world."

Eaglesmith is one of those artists who is a long way from a household name, but is a legend for those in the know. The Ontario native has been releasing acclaimed albums for the past 30 years. Many, like his most recent, "Tinderbox," can be found on best-of-the-year lists, and draw comparisons to the best of works of Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle and John Prine.

In addition, fellow artists, including Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert, Toby Keith, The Cowboy Junkies, Chris Knight, Kasey Chambers, Mary Gauthier, Todd Snider, Dar Williams, James King and Ralph Stanley II, have all recorded Eaglesmith songs.

It may be no surprise that Eaglesmith's songs often depict characters in dire situations. One of nine children, Eaglesmith grew up in a rural environment when times were tough. The family's farm was in foreclosure twice before Eaglesmith set out as a teen for a music career.

While he's known for a poetic story songs, Eaglesmith says his songs have become less wordy through the years.

"I look at the earlier songs I wrote and they're just much more complicated," says Eaglesmith. "I write simpler songs now because I can. Just because I know how to write a song. I could be more clever. I could dazzle you more. I could make people ooh and ahh a little more, but it's like an old pair of jeans - you just put them on."

In fact, he says, his next album will be very simple songs with few characters.

"It's an album full of songs that Elvis would've been able to sing," says Eaglesmith.

He says if was only remembered for one song it should be "Water in the Fuel."

"That's just the way I've lived for the last 30 years - one wheel off the tracks, sort of."

That philosophy carries on to Eaglesmith's concerts.

"One of my heroes is Billy Connelly, the Scottish comedian," says Eaglesmith. "He's petrified every night because he just makes it up as he goes. I do a lot of that myself. I don't have a set list. The band doesn't know what we're going into next. I start playing some chords. They don't know what's going to happen every night. It keeps them on their toes and I think they enjoy it."

And, if a show is a little rough around the edges, Eaglesmith is all the happier:

"Anybody can be as good as me, but not a lot of me can be as bad as me. We could use some bad these days. Neil Young was really bad, but that's what you love about him. He never tried to be good. Dylan was bad and never tried to be good. Those guys didn't go out and take vocal lessons and fix up their harmonica licks or guitar licks. They just went out and did what they did. The Band was like that. They were real rough in a way and it made them great. They showed their warts and their underbellies and I really liked that ... What we love about people is their quirks. Now too many people don't have quirks."

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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