MONTREAL, Canada (Top40 Charts/ Fred Eaglesmith Official Website) - Fred Eaglesmith's new album Tinderbox - out April 29 and sure to be the acclaimed singer-songwriter's breakout release - is a work of near-literary power, eloquence and lucidity, as noted in a recent four-star review in the Montreal Gazette: "The vividly cinematic songs on Fred Eaglesmith's Tinderbox make for a rumbling travelogue through rural Bible Belt country where the rains haven't been falling for far too long and the true believers don't know what to believe anymore. They feel like God's forsaken them in their hour of need; it's like he's too busy being co-opted by rich folks and big government. It's powerful stuff and Eaglesmith succeeds by matching his finely-crafted lyrics, which capture the desperation deep in his characters' souls, with arrangements that, while focused, seem to suggest confusion and disconnect. While most of these songs form a kind of alt-gospel collection, Eaglesmith also sometimes gets into affairs of the heart. 'Quietly' is a starkly beautiful song describing the moment that love disintegrates."
Over the course of its 18 tracks, Tinderbox proves itself to be a landmark release not just for Eaglesmith - long touted by critics as a premier songwriter of these times and widely admired and covered by his fellow songwriters - but within popular music overall. Since leaving the family farm at age 15, guitar in hand, Eaglesmith has honed his craft as a wandering troubadour, capturing the lives, emotions and travails of seemingly common people with uncommon sensitivity, humanity and dignity and rendering internal feelings and thoughts both palpable and powerful to the listener. As Phil Gallo notes in Variety, "The sound of the road rumbles through all of Eaglesmith's songs - the gravel hitting the wheel wells, the creak of a truck door opening, the cadence of the rim hitting the asphalt when a tire goes flat. Eaglesmith is not about the elevation of the common man but the depiction of an actual life, operating at the eye level of a another man."
His previous 16 releases have won him comparisons to such major talents as Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, John Prine, T Bone Burnett and Steve Earle. Fellow artists like superstar Toby Keith - who covered Eaglesmith's "White Rose" on his recent hit album Big Dog Daddy and included his recording of "Thinking 'Bout You" in the movie "Broken Bridges" and on its soundtrack album - The Cowboy Junkies, Kasey Chambers, Mary Gauthier, Ralph Stanley II, Dar Williams and Todd Snider have recorded his songs, and he is the subject of a tribute album by other fellow songwriters. He boasts such a fervent coterie of fans that he hosts three annual music festivals: Roots on the River every summer in Vermont; the Fred Eaglesmith Texas Weekend each spring at Gruene Hall, the mother church of the Texas roots music scene; and this year two Roots on the Rail rolling music fests along both historic narrow-gauge railroads through the American West embarking in late September and another into the Canadian arctic in early November. Martin Scorsese and James Caan have used his music in their film projects, and his songs are even included in the course curriculum of two colleges.
Tinderbox explores life, love, labor, spirituality and more both literally and metaphorically, 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 is bound if not indeed fated to build on Eaglesmith's burgeoning buzz and cadre of supporters and followers to raise his profile to the level his artistry merits, and also a sure bet to show up on the year-end Best of 2008 lists of music critics and publications. So do yourself a favor and give Tinderbox a listen, and don't be surprised if you find yourself joining the ever-growing legion of "Fredheads."
Meanwhile Eaglesmith and his band continue to perform live shows where they "rock like punks on a mission" playing "exactly like the sort of music you dream of hearing in some crowded, hot, beery bar near closing time... a truly timeless brand of primitive rock'n'roll," as Amazon.com says of his live recordings. "[T]his was an evening to prove that Eaglesmith is a one-of-a-kind songwriter and performer," notes the Austin Chronicle of one of his performances. "His band crackled and stomped, while he shouted and moaned; Eaglesmith is as dynamic a performer as has ever graced the Continental Club stage."
A highly independent musical artist long before the trend, Eaglesmith is a talent whose time has come. "When it comes to music that feels real and rooted," concludes Variety, "the Eaglesmith model is the picture of the future, the artist and the businessman rolled into one."
Fred Eaglesmith tour dates:
4/13 Club Helsinki Great Barrington, MA
4/14 The Tin Angel Philadelphia, PA
4/15 Jammin' Java Vienna, VA
4/17 Cafe Nine New Haven, CT
4/18 Bull Run Restaurant Shirley, MA
4/19 One Longfellow Square Portland, ME
4/20 Tommy Doyle's Irish Pub Cambridge, MA
4/25 The Iron Horse Northampton, MA
5/22 Sellersville Theatre Sellersville, PA
5/23 Ashland Coffee and Tea Ashland, VA
5/25 The Evening Muse Charlotte, NC
5/26 Eddie's Attic Decatur, GA
5/28 The Bluebird Cafe Nashville, TN
5/29 Down Home Johnson City, TN
5/30 The Handlebar Greenville, SC
5/31 Berkeley Cafe Raleigh, NC
6/1 The Pub Harrisonburg, VA
6/5-6/8 Roots on the River Bellows Falls, VT
