Stephen Fearing

Event date: Feb. 9, 2007

Gibson Auditorium - Camosun College (Landsdowne campus)
1300 Foul Bay Rd. (Use Long Term Parking Lot, $1 to park all night)
Doors 7:30pm - Showtime 8pm
Tickets: $25 Advance / $28 Door
Available at: Lyle's Place (cash only) 250-382-8422 & High Tide Box Office at www.hightideconcerts.net

Stephen's website: www.stephenfearing.com

"I'm standing at a window; I'm pressed against the past; I'm looking on in black and white through the eyes of photographs."

S. Fearing, "The Longest Road"

What is telling about a great songwriter's work is the ability for their lyrics to stand on their own. Left without context, or musical backdrop, the words still flow and have meaning. For almost 17 years now, Stephen Fearing has been penning some of the most literate, stirring and emotionally charged "folk" music on this planet. Couple this with stunning guitar work, and a smooth intimate voice, and you have the elements of the unique performer that is Stephen Fearing.

After a year of touring throughout Canada and the United States singer/songwriter and guitarist Stephen Fearing is back with a new studio album. That's How I Walk is the sixth solo album for this four time JUNO nominee, and follow up to the critically lauded "So Many Miles."

It is the spirit of the road and the constant motion of touring that form the foundation of the album, most of the songs written completely, or at least started, whilst enroute from one gig to another. "I found that late at night, after the show, was the best time for making miles between gigs and also the best time for writing," says Stephen. "The songs reflect this, as characters in motion, and images of darkness and travel haunt many of the songs."

That's How I Walk is musically rich and lyrically powerful - it is a defining work in the career of one of Canada's most respected songwriters and guitarists. From the brooding "Showbiz" to the hard-luck swagger of "On The Great Divide," Stephen's songwriting has never been more focused than it is in these 14 songs.

Blending a wide variety of genres, Fearing draws on numerous musical influences to produce a unique style. That's How I Walk offers up tracks such as the plaintive, blues-soaked "Like the Way You Said," the powerful underlying tension and restraint of the title track, the sad beauty of live favorite "Wailing Wall" and the churning, up-tempo acoustic-driven "The Finest Kind," featuring Shawn Colvin on back-up vocals.

Fearing's co-writing experience with Tom Wilson on the JUNO award winning Blackie & the Rodeo Kings album was so liberating for him that he decided to try his hand with other artists. Collaborations on That's How I Walk include "Glory Train" with Brian den Hertog, "Wailing Wall" with Colin Cripps, "Me and Mr. Blue" with Ian Thornley, "Finest Kind" and "That's How I Walk" with Tom Wilson.

Stephen shared production on this album with long time friend and fellow Blackie bandmate Colin Linden. In Fearing's opinion Colin's studio expertise and musical virtuosity was indispensable. He credits the quality of the album to their ongoing friendship, their experience working together in the studio and on the stage, and to a mutual desire to continualy push the envelope instrumentally and texturally. "Being involved in the production of this album was important for me," says Stephen. "I wanted to hone my technical skills, and I couldn't have asked for a better teacher than the one I found in Colin."

That's How I Walk blends a raw, streetwise edge with evocative soul-searching imagery to produce music of quiet passion and depth. Ranging in subject from love's loss to poverty, from faith to sexuality, Fearing's work taps the full spectrum of human experience.

More info

Ruthie Foster

Event date: Sat. Feb. 24, 2007

Alix Goolden Hall, Victoria
Doors 7pm - Showtime 7:30pm
Tickets: $23 Advance / $26 Door
Available at: Lyle's Place (cash only) 770 Yates St. 250-382-8422 & ONLINE at www.hightideconcerts.net

Ruthie's Website: www.ruthiefoster.com

Ruthie Foster’s songs are a remarkable hybrid of blues, gospel, roots and folk music rich with honest spirituality and emotion. Her simply amazing vocal abilities have critics comparing her to Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin. Ruthie’s passionate songs and scintillating live performances attract both the young and old for an uplifting experience of dancing, listening, laughing and even some crying; especially when Ruthie rounds out the joyous occasion with her versions of show-stopping gospel standards.

Ruthie’s new international release “Stages” on Blue Corn Music is a collection of 14 songs recorded live in Austin, TX with Will Taylor and String’s Attached chamber ensemble at St. David’s Episcopal Church, Anderson Fair in Houston, TX and Club Passim in Boston, MA. The live performances include old favorites like “Crossover,” “Another Rain Song,” and “Real Love” as well as roof raising gospel standards “Death Came a Knockin’ (Travelin’ Shoes)” and “Walk On.” The CD finishes with the title cut to her breakthrough CD “Runaway Soul.”

Ruthie’s performance highlights include PBS syndicated Austin City Limits, which has aired in 2003 and 2004; a 2004 tour of UK theaters with Eric Bibb; The Strawberry Music Festival in California, the Vancouver Folk Festival, the Willie Nelson Picnic, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Folks Fest in Lyons, Colorado, Bass Concert Hall, the Waterfront Blues Festival in Oregon, the Tonder Festival in Denmark, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Austin City Limits Festival, and many others too numerous to mention.

Neither Ruthie nor the Blue Corn Music label and their distributor were prepared for the initial and sustaining demand for “Runaway Soul” since its release. CDs were flying off the shelves and in particular the stage. While on tour they sell an average of 100 CDs a night. “We spent a lot of time chasing down the Fed Ex truck while on tour trying to get our merch. It’s a good problem to have,” laughs the good natured and lovely Ruthie. While touring the Canadian Folk Festival circuit in the summer of 2002, Ruthie sold 1000 CDs in a day breaking a long-time record held by Ani DiFranco

Raised in Gause, Texas, a small town 180 miles southeast of Dallas, Ruthie grew up surrounded by the rich, soulful sounds of gospel and blues. Her outstanding voice and superb original music have many influences including Sam Cooke, Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Thorpe, Sarah Vaughn, Etta James, and Lightnin’ Hopkins, although perhaps no one has influenced Ruthie like her mother, Shirley Jones, who urged her to “Open your mouth and sing, girl!”

Foster’s musical journey has taken her from McClennan Community College in Waco, Texas and a degree in commercial music to a four-year tour with the U. S. Navy Band “Pride”, to New York City and a contract with Atlantic Records. During her stay in New York, Ruthie appeared at many of the top venues in town opening and performing with artists such as Josh White, Jr., Matt “Guitar” Murphy, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Paul Schaffer.

In November of 1993, Ruthie received word from home that her mother, who had been quite ill, needed her. She left New York, Atlantic and her career in music behind and came home to College Station, Texas. She took a job working as a cameraperson and production assistant at the local TV station and spent her off hours caring for her mother. During this time, Ruthie began singing and playing for some of the elderly people that she had met with her mother, and thus began a heartfelt dedication to giving back to the community that continues to this day.

More info