Genres Folk, rock Website stephenfearing.com Name Stephen Fearing | Instruments Guitar, vocals Years active 1988–present | |
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Role Singer-songwriter · stephenfearing.com Albums Fearing & White, Between Hurricanes Awards Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Solo Similar People | ||
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter | ||
Gallery vertigo wood floor sessions with stephen fearing
Stephen Fearing (born 1963) is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. In addition to his solo career, Fearing was one of the founding members of Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, along with Colin Linden and Tom Wilson. He is also a member of the duo Fearing & White, with Irish artist Andy White.
Contents
- Gallery vertigo wood floor sessions with stephen fearing
- Stephen Fearing Beguiling Eyes
- Solo career
- Fearing White
- References
Stephen Fearing - Beguiling Eyes
Solo career
Stephen Fearing was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, and raised in Dublin, Ireland. He returned to Canada in 1981 via Minneapolis, Minnesota, and began pursuing a career in music. Soon after his return, he released a cassette-only, self-titled album in 1986. He was then signed to the Canadian label Aural Tradition. In 1988 he released Out to Sea, which was produced by Steve Darke and Fearing in Vancouver. The album was followed by Blue Line, in 1991, which was produced in London by Clive Gregson and features B.J. Cole on pedal steel.
Soon after, Fearing was signed to True North Records. It was also at this time that he began working with manager Bernie Finkelstein. True North re-released Fearing's first two efforts Out to Sea and Blue Line. His first official release for the label was The Assassin's Apprentice, in 1994. Produced by Los Lobos' Steve Berlin, the album features musical contributions from Sarah McLachlan and Richard Thompson. It was nominated for Best Roots & Traditional Album at the 1995 Juno Awards.
In 1996, Fearing joined forces with Colin Linden and Tom Wilson to form Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Started in order to record a tribute album to the work of Ontario-born songwriter Willie P. Bennett, the band has gone on to write and record original material for a series of critically acclaimed albums.
Fearing returned to his solo career with 1998's Industrial Lullaby. The album features two co-writes with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings bandmate Tom Wilson. It also includes a collaboration with Willie P. Bennett on the track "Coryanna". The album went on to earn a Best Roots & Traditional Album nomination at the 1998 Juno Awards.
In 2000, Fearing released So Many Miles. Recorded by Colin Linden, the album compiles two nights of performances at Toronto's Tranzac and is made up of songs from his catalogue and a cover of Neil Young's "Thrasher", which he had originally recorded for the 1994 album Borrowed Tunes: A Tribute to Neil Young.
In 2001 Fearing performed on the main stage at the Peterborough Folk Festival.
For his next album, That's How I Walk, Fearing enlisted the help of Colin Linden as a co-producer. The sessions for the album took place in Toronto and Nashville and featured the backing band of Gary Craig (drums and percussion), John Dymond (bass), Ben Riley (drums and percussion), and Roberto Occhipinti (upright bass). Richard Bell, Ian Thornley (Big Wreck), Leonard Podolak (Scruj MacDuk), and Shawn Colvin also made guest appearances. The album was mastered by John Whynot. Its cover photo was shot by Margaret Malandruccolo and features art direction from Michael Wrycraft. Considered one of Fearing's definitive works, it was nominated for Best Roots and Traditional Album at the 2003 Juno Awards.
His next album, Yellowjacket, saw him taking on the role of producer for the first time on his own. Scott Merritt engineered and mixed the session. The title track was written with Tom Wilson. The idea was spawned following a drive they shared from Nashville to Ontario while taking Yellow Jacket caffeine pills to stay awake. The album features performances from Dan Whiteley (Heartbreak Hill), Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies), backing vocalist