Bruce to tour with the legendary Fred Eaglesmith!

Bruce to tour with the legendary Fred Eaglesmith!

Having just drummed on a short tour with Fred I was exposed each day & night to the majic of this legendry Canadian Wordsmith, story teller, songwriter and amazing performer.

I am now a true Fredhead in a musical way, Tinderbox is the greatest CD i have heard since Little Village in the 80's. It draws you into the realities of Americana, the sounds come alive and haunt you, and take you on a journey to the land and its people.

The musicianship is firstclass, I am a big big fan of the band, and see the future for the the young players Matty and Luke as very bright, I like how they evoke sounds and astmoshere with their playing, never afraid to experiment.

Fred is a wicked Rhythm/Lead guitarist with a very original sound, he plays with great heart and incredible feel.

I especialy love the drumming of Kori, she has a very original sound and although not techincal , the feel is to die for, I had to fill in for her and am greatful i had this cd as a guide.

Fred is an amazing person and a Genius..a national treasure, listen to this disc, take the journey, make the conversion , its well worth the price of admission.

TINDERBOX

I give this cd 10 stars **********

I thought he said "He was A Deer"

bruce aitken

PLEASE READ REVIEW BELOW i concur 100%

Fred Eaglesmith

05.06.2008 -- Review by: Don Henry Ford Jr

Sometimes a CD comes along that so well defines my current thinking I can’t seem to listen to anything else. Tinderbox is my latest musical obsession.

I had heard the CD described as gospel for the unbeliever. After listening over and again and again, I disagree. Fred Eaglesmith believes in something, but, in his own words:

Fancy God

That God you got is a fancy God

And he’s not the one I know

He don’t live in parking lots

Outside of monster homes

My God ain’t in the government

He don’t put on a big show

That God you got is a fancy God

And he’s not the one I know

My God lives on gravel roads

And goes down into hollers

Goes down and saves the souls

Of your very sons and daughters

Your crystal meth

And your cocaine breathe

And your tingling to your toes

That God you got is a fancy God

And he’s not the one I know

Fred has gone through major changes recently. Last year his right hand man and long time band mate, Willie P. Bennett suffered a heart attack. Then early this year, Willie died. I don’t know how much of the changes in Fred’s music can be attributed to his friend’s passing, but to be sure, Tinderbox is a departure from the sound and style I am accustomed to hearing from Fred.

Spare, primitive sounds dominate songs with the beat and rhythm you’d expect from old negro spirituals sung out in the fields, perhaps set to the pace of a hoe clawing at the ground. Gospel themes dominate, but Fred’s version of gospel is more like that Jesus offered—that of someone reared in the real world, not the words of some priest or preacher—part of the accepted establishment.

Fred sings of a dark, forbidding world, a world that is killing him, day by day. He cries for rain, for mercy, for justice, a farmer on bended knee in a worked up field, a soldier back from war, a desperate outlaw, someone’s crying from the very back row in a failing church; the world’s about to end and everyone knows. He prays, and prays and prays. Yet evil men sit in high places and prey on those below. Once again, Fred’s own words:

You Can’t Trust Them

Well out on the corner

Of third and green

They’re dealing prescription

Amphetamines

And you count your fingers

When you shake their hand

Cause they steal your wealth

As fast as they can

(Chorus)

You can’t trust em

Their souls are lost