One could say that Vancouver-born Stephen Fearing has music in his blood.
“My family’s been in music and the arts for generations,” Fearing said. “My grandfather was an award-winning baritone, my great-great-great-grand-aunt was […] a celebrated soprano in the 1800s and my father and my mother were both professional musicians.”
Since launching his career, Fearing has co-founded the band Blackie and the Rodeo Kings with Colin Linden and Tom Wilson, opened for Merle Haggard, performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and won two Juno Awards, along with multiple nominations.
Fearing described his sound as being a mix of roots, folk and Americana. He draws inspiration from his upbringing in Ireland, which he called a “country full of artists.” He also cited punk, classical music, rock and roll and even church hymns as influential to his music. Amidst these varied influences, however, storytelling remains the constant.
“At the heart of it, I’m a storyteller,” he said. “I think that’s something I’ve come to realize, is I like telling stories, and not necessarily my own at all, but finding a way into telling a story through music is a fascinating process, and you will draw from all those different elements at some point or another.”
Fearing’s songwriting process is rooted in this storytelling, getting ideas and writing them down. He cited Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” as an inspiration.
“There’s a line in [“Folsom Prison Blues”] which he says, ‘and I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.’ And the truth is that Johnny Cash never shot anybody in Reno just to watch them die. He was making that up,” Fearing explained. “But because of who he is, and the persona that he projects, but also the way he wrote that song, it’s believable.”
Fearing stated that much of his songwriting isn’t directly based on his own life or any true story, affirming that writing about his real life would get “boring” after a while.
“You have to have a good imagination. You have to have a good sense of empathy, to be able to feel what other people are feeling, and then you spend your whole life trying to figure out how to articulate that in a way that is poetic or interesting or tight. You know, trying to create songs that are like little boats — that they can float, they don’t sink, they’re watertight.”
Fearing released his latest album, The Empathist, on March 14. The album’s title and concept came about two years ago when he was applying for a grant. He made up song titles for the application, one of which was “The Empathist.”
“The idea of empathy really intrigues me,” he said. “It’s a term that I wasn’t familiar with when I was younger. I knew about sympathy, and I knew about compassion […] But empathy was a different experience, something I didn’t know about and I found out about it later. And I’ve been intrigued by it ever since.”
Fearing believes empathy is essential to songwriting.
“I think as a songwriter being able to experience or practice empathy is really important because you can put yourself in other people’s shoes in a way that feels authentic and that’s what makes songs really stick.”
Fearing shared that despite the title, the album has joy in it. He developed the themes with co-producer, Ken Coomer. Even titling the album The Empathist rather than “The Empath” was a conscious choice to make sure that the album didn’t seem too heavy.
“If I’d called the album ‘The Empath,’ it would feel like a darker record to me,” said Fearing. “By calling it The Empathist, there’s humour in that, and that is what is in the music too, there’s humor.”
In support of The Empathist, he’s currently touring Western Canada. The tour began on March 13 in Sidney, B.C. Fearing’s accompanying band is Danish Americana trio, The Sentimentals, whom he has worked with since 2018.
“They’re three guys who are very fine musicians from Denmark,” he said. “We create an interesting sound, and I’m really excited to bring them on this leg of the tour, because they’ve never seen [the West Coast] of Canada.”
Fearing will perform in Winnipeg on March 29 at the West End Cultural Centre. He has played in the city multiple times, including at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, but hasn’t been back in a few years.
“It’s great,” he commented on Winnipeg. “First thing we’re going to do […] I’m going to take [the Sentimentals] to Rae and Jerry’s,” he said, referring to the famous Winnipeg steak house.
Fearing closed by expressing his excitement about the album.
“It’s my 16th album […] but this is the first one that I’ve created my own label to put out,” he remarked. “It’s the first one that I’ve really shepherded […] So I’m very excited to bring this music, and I think it’s timely. I think there’s stuff in this album that will resonate with people.”
Stephen Fearing’s latest album, The Empathist, was released March 14. Fearing’s tour stops in Winnipeg on March 29 at the West End Cultural Centre. For tickets and more information, visit stephenfearing.ca/tour.
