Sage against the machine

Fred J. Eaglesmith

When it comes to his career, Canadian roots musician Fred J. Eaglesmith is a self-made man.

Here’s a job for all you soon-to-be-graduates to consider: itinerant folkie. According to Fred J. Eaglesmith, it’s a fine line of work for those seeking adventure and job security. Really.

“My career is a really nice little career,” Eaglesmith says. “I can go anywhere in the world, and I can sell 100 or 200 tickets, and I can do it 300 nights a year. It’s sort of an amazing, beautiful thing.”

But Eaglesmith’s facile career-day description of his artistry obscures the hard work this 49-year-old Canadian native has invested in his success. Eaglesmith released his self-titled first album in 1980, and has been writing, performing and releasing music on his own ever since.

“I started putting out my own albums in the early ’80s,” Eaglesmith says, “I just knew right away what everyone has learned since, that getting involved with record companies was bad business and to stay out of it.”

But despite his aversion to major record labels and major media (or “the machine” as he refers to it), Eaglesmith has found his niche. His music has been covered by the Cowboy Junkies, Dar Williams and Kasey Chambers. In 2002, bluegrass artist James King had a number one hit with the song “Thirty Years of Farming,” which earned Eaglesmith the rather unique honor of being the only Canadian composer to ever have a number one song on the American bluegrass charts. Just this year, Eaglesmith had one of his songs featured in slack-jawed super-patriot country singer Toby Keith’s film Broken Bridges.

Beginning with 2004’s Dusty and continuing with 2006’s Milly’s Cafe, Eaglesmith has embarked on a compelling musical journey, mixing sparse instrumentation with compelling tales of love, loss and regret set against a stark Midwestern backdrop, a la Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska.

“The last two albums have been very Midwest-oriented,” says Eaglesmith. “I’d never spent too much time there, but when I was there, it was a very disturbing place for me to be in. At the same time, I loved it so much.”

Both albums have made numerous “best of” lists, and placed Eaglesmith among the latest in a long list of great Canadian singer/songwriters. While he may not be as well-known as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Daniel Lanois or Leonard Cohen, the music seems just as compelling and timeless.

But no matter how many accolades Eaglesmith collects, his toughest critics have always been the ones in his home country.

“Canada has, once in a while, thumbed its nose at me,” he says. “Every once in a while, I get that I’m ‘selling out’ to the Americans, never mind that I was making this music in 1981. The truth is, I went to Nashville, made an album, came back and won a Juno Award [for 1997’s Drive-in Movie]. The album before that I couldn’t get arrested in my home country.”

It’s a hard road to travel, but Eaglesmith says walking it alone has made the journey worth the effort.

“No major record company has passed me on to [people], no advertising company has passed me on, and this is a real grassroots thing. It’s been 20 years in the making, and what’s great is that I’m not a ‘has been.’ I’ve been around for a long time, and I stayed away from the big ‘machine.'”

Twenty-seven years into his career, Eaglesmith talks about music with the fire and determination of an artist half his age. The passion that Eaglesmith feels for music will undoubtably pervade his live show, which includes spoken word pieces, bluegrass songs, country-influenced ballads and at least a few bars of genuine rock ‘n’ roll. But his attitude toward his work remains decidely punk: “I will not walk the line,” he says. “I refuse to play the game.”

[Jason Bugg is a freelance writer based in Asheville.]


Fred Eaglesmith & The Flying Squirrels perform at the Grey Eagle on Thursday, Jan. 4. 8:30 p.m. $14 advance/$16 day of show. 232-5800.

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