Ottawa Citizen

He’s flying solo again

Musician Fearing goes back to running his own show,

- ROGER LEVESQUE

It’s been 25 years since Fearing released his first album Out To Sea (1988), and seven years since his last solo disc Yellowjack­et (2006). While the multiple Juno winner has been productive, it’s been mostly in collaborat­ive projects, Blackie & The Rodeo Kings and more recently with the duo Fearing & (Andy) White. This is the first time he’s really taken the reins of his own career, releasing a new solo effort that packed a steep learning curve.

When I reached Fearing recently, he was contemplat­ing the start of his new tour, sitting in a Winnipeg hotel room over a bowl of oatmeal.

“I am living the dream,” he joked. “Well, let’s just say I had no idea how much work it was to put out a record pretty much on your own. It’s the busiest I’ve ever been and this is the hardest I’ve ever worked.”

Fearing’s last solo disc, Yellowjack­et, was also his last with True North Records ( just before founder Bernie Finkelstei­n sold the label). Since then, the tunesmith experience­d the end of his marriage, the death of several family members including his father, and a move from Guelph, Ont., to Halifax. Add a lot of time touring here and abroad.

Now at 50, Fearing has chosen to be his own manager. He’s been up half the night adding touches to his website, stephenfea­ring.com, such as a page featuring his own photograph­y. You can see some of Fearing’s lovely, atmospheri­c images on the cover of the new album Between Hurricanes. After musing over the end of Kodak, Fearing addressed his own fresh career challenges.

“The positive side is that for the first time, I have tackled it myself. If a mistake is made it’s mine, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. Now I’m my own everything so I can try whatever I want to. Whether the album can resonate on the same scale is another question.”

Even if the playing field of the music business has changed, it’s a pleasure to report that Fearing still knows how to write and sing songs that will resonate for many. He was going to call the album 50, but Between Hurricanes (a line from the song These Golden Days) seemed to sum up so much of what was going on. It came in a specific reference to the Halifax hurricane season.

“It’s about that pause in the middle, between the crazy things flying around. It’s that short period where you get to digest things, knowing that it’s going to start up again.”

Fans should relish hearing the solo artist on his own again, mostly acoustic, joined by a subtle backing, including keyboard player and co-producer John Whynot.

On first listen the sheer dynamic range of Between Hurricanes will impress you, from gorgeous, quiet love songs like The Fool, to the folksy twang of Don’t You Wish Your Bread Was Dough, to uptempo rockers like Keep Your Mouth Shut. Most of the songs were written last year specifical­ly for the album, but they didn’t all originate from personal experience.

“They were written very quickly without really having a strong agenda, like ‘I’m gonna write a song about this or that.’ It was more about having a blank piece of paper, a guitar and a pen and saying ‘ let’s go.’ The whole process was so intense and quick, I can hardly believe I’m sitting here talking about it already.”

He only came to understand the album’s subconscio­us running thread after the fact.

“Whatever conscious reasons you have for writing a song, it fascinates me how the subconscio­us is just churning away in the background, going ‘you don’t know it, but this is what we’re going to be writing about.’ Afterwards you realize, here are all these different parts of my life. It’s astounding. Keep Your Mouth Shut was written basically to fulfil the need for an uptempo song. I didn’t sit down and think, ‘This song is going to be about my ex-wife and it’s going to be nasty.’ It’s a snarky song but it fits.”

The only cover is a beautiful rendition of Gordon Lightfoot’s classic Early Morning Rain. While Fearing was born on Canada’s West Coast, the crucial years of his upbringing happened after the family moved to Dublin, Ireland, and after his parent’s divorce. “It brings back how I used to listen to his songs in Ireland, as a kid, and how it left me homesick, and sad for my parent’s marriage.”

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 ?? JANA CHYTILOVA /OTTAWA CITIZEN ?? Stephen Fearing, shown performing with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings at Bluesfest, is touring with his new solo record, Between Hurricanes.
JANA CHYTILOVA /OTTAWA CITIZEN Stephen Fearing, shown performing with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings at Bluesfest, is touring with his new solo record, Between Hurricanes.

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