Rounder Records, continuing its long-term practice of finding
\naccomplished Canadian artists and signing them to US contracts, has
\nbrought us their latest gem, Vancouver-based blues-folk artist
\nStephen Fearing, and his latest CD,
\nThat’s How I Walk<\/i>. And I have to say, they haven’t missed
\nyet.
\nWalk<\/i>, released on Rounder’s subsidiary imprint Philo, is a
\ntight, well-performed, and darned enjoyable piece of work.<\/p>\n
Fearing, a fifteen-year veteran of touring, solo and group work,
\nhas an undeniable talent. His voice, at once gritty, smoky, and
\nalluring, is still articulate and incisive when it need to be. He
\nhas that rarity in music nowadays, a unique voice that is still
\nlistenable. His guitar playing is excellent as well (especially the
\nresonator guitar on “Like The Way You Said” and “When My Baby Calls
\nMy Name”) and he’s backed up by a band of competent musicians,
\nblending seamlessly into a musical whole. Production and
\nengineering on the album are crystalline; you can clearly hear
\nFearing’s string sounds on his guitar, and I cheerfully admit I’m a
\nsucker for that.<\/p>\n
What makes the CD stand out are the little touches. An
\nunexpected trumpet graces “Town Called Jesus,” turning the
\nclich\u00e9 of acoustic my-home-town blues into something richer
\nand fuller. Shawn Colvin’s backing vocals on “The Finest Kind”
\nbring a needed depth, turning a good song into an excellent one.
\nFearing plainly plays attention to how a song should sound, and
\ndoesn’t limit himself to the conventions of his musical form.<\/p>\n
Other tracks worth mentioning include the wistful, rich
\n“Showbiz”; the bitterly satirical “Rave On Captain” (good to see
\nCanadians understand the last US election was bought, too); the
\ndriving and obsessive “Black Silk Gown”; and the highlight of the
\nCD, the haunting “Me And Mr. Blue” — a tune I couldn’t get out of
\nmy head (and may, indeed, not get it out for weeks).<\/p>\n
Stephen Fearing is another Canadian import who’s definitely
\nworth checking out.
\nThat’s How I Walk<\/i> is definitely worth picking up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":26306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6806],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-37533","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-stephen-fearing","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37533"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}