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Listening to Stephen Fearing's latest release, his eighth studio CD, is a bit like greeting and old and dear friend.

Despite its intimacy there's a complete lack of awkwardness at being invited into Fearon's world, it as if being privy to these, gentle, personal stories is the most natural thing in the world.

During his 20-year-career, Canadian-born Fearing has worked with the cream of the folk/rock world, Clive Gregson produced his 1989 album Blue Line while Richard Thompson and Sarah McLachlan guested on 1994's The Assassin's Apprentice. To these names you could add artists of the calibre of Ralph McTell and Tom Paxton, Fearing displays the same pinpoint emotional and observational accuracy as all of them, what he aims at, he hits.

But there is also a cross-Atlantic hybrid feel to Yellowjacket, The Man Who Married Music has a Celtic lilt, which can be explained by Fearing spending his childhood and teenage years in Dublin. He has absorbed the romance of his adopted surroundings and has put it to devastatingly good use.

There is also another 'benign conflict' taking place on Yellowjacket, the title track begins sparse and spare, before blossoming and then retreating back into its folk shell, that style is mirrored in Love Only Knows and Like Every Other Morning while Goodnight Moon soars and flies apparently under its own steam.

Within the framework of an essentially simple musical philosophy, Yellowjacket is a constantly evolving and challenging piece of music. As a songwriter of exquisite taste and talent, Fearing has largely turned inwards, This Guitar is obviously autobiographical but while the rest stay close to their writer, it is only obvious thing about Yellowjacket.

As a singer, Fearing's easy style builds up an instant rapport and trust. The belief is absolute that he would never write just for effect and nor would he waste words, there is a clarity to Johnny's Lament that makes it both poignant and direct.

Stephen Fearing also provides his own 'musical interlude' with the whimsical, fantastical guitar piece Whoville, following which he launches into the album's 'second half' with the Tex-Mex shaded This Guitar.

On Yellowjacket Stephen Fearing comes across as a man comfortable with his muse, he has good reason to be.

Michael Mee, May 2006

Sing Out!
THE FOLK SONG MAGAZINE
Spring 2003

Bodles Opera House, Chester, New York
2000

Acoustic Guitar

July 2003 Copyright 2003 Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, all rights reserved, used by permission.

For more info on Rodgers' books and articles about music, visit jeffreypepperrodgers.com

Tin Pan Alley Cat

Stephen Fearing energizes his music with collaboration and classic song craft.
By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

At the annual trade show/musical blowout known as Folk Alliance, there seems to be more than one Stephen Fearing working the showcases that spill over every square inch of Nashville's Renaissance Hotel. One Stephen Fearing is, like hordes of others here, a singer-songwriter: singing finely tuned, serious-minded original songs over acoustic guitar accompaniment. But then there's this other guy with the same name bashing out chords in a roots-rock trio decked out in matching monogrammed suits. In Folk Alliance's feverish atmosphere of schmoozing and self-promotion, this band, "Blackie and the Rodeo Kings" is shamelessly hacking around and having a nearly illegal amount of fun.

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Dirty Linen magazine

Paul-Emile Comeau (Comeauville, NS, Canada)

From Dirty Linen #107 (August/September 2003). © 2003 Dirty Linen Ltd., All Rights Reserved Used with permission.

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Stephen Fearing That’s How I Walk
Philo 18964-1221 (2003)

"That’s How I Walk", Stephen Fearing’s sixth solo album, and possibly his best, is a strong collection of songs made all the more compelling by the fact that Colin Linden, one of his partners in Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, co-produced with the singer.

Many of the tracks start off with a shimmering guitar riff or percussive effect, a haunting organ sound, or an unusual string arrangement. The music is equal parts folk and blues and features a small but stellar group of musicians, including Fearing himself on acoustic guitar, Linden mostly on electric guitar, Richard Bell on organ, and a few others. Guest vocalists Joy Lynn White, Shawn Colvin, and Jonell Mosser contribute harmonies to several songs. A string quartet appears on three tracks, with very effective results.

Fearing has claimed John Martyn as an early influence and his singing actually evokes Martyn on some tracks, although his songs have also been compared with Richard Thompson’s. “That’s How I Walk,” the title track, was co-written with Tom Wilson, another Rodeo King. “A Town Called Jesus” has its roots in Fearing’s childhood growing up in Ireland. “Rave On Captain” is a sardonic song that seems to have been inspired by an election gone awry and includes such lyrics as: “Rave on for the masses as you lead the way/ Rave on for the apathy that took the day.” The album ends with a lovely banjo-guitar duo, which is followed by the beautiful “The Parting Glass,” Fearing’s first foray into traditional material since his debut album. Although not all the songs are destined to be classics, the production and musicianship hold everything together remarkably well.