Just Us Folk

Over the course of writing songs for 16 solo albums, nine Blackie and the Rodeo Kings albums, and two albums with Northern Ireland singer-songwriter Andy White, one thing Stephen Fearing has learned is that his story is not necessarily what’s important to the story.

For instance, his song ‘The Empathist’ contains the lyric "You just might be civilized ’cause you were raised by women". While this might offer an ounce of insight into his reality, it’s merely a jumping-off point to a greater story of two people’s relationship. “And some of my songs are more autobiographical than others. But I really stand by that philosophy,” he said.

As an example, Stephen knows Johnny Cash didn’t write ‘A Boy Named Sue’, but he’s also sure Johnny could relate to a character who says he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die. It’s a matter of telling someone else’s story once you’ve found some sort of common ground.

The story of how Stephen’s new album—also called The Empathist—was created goes back to the days of the pandemic. Out of the blue, Stephen received an email from Ken Coomer, offering to produce his next record. Ken had heard Stephen’s rendition of ‘Early Morning Rain’ on Spotify and was intrigued by the performance.

Stephen, on the other hand, had no idea who Ken was and thought perhaps this was a new take on the Nigerian prince email scam. After some digging, he found out Ken was a founding member of the bands Wilco and Uncle Tupelo, along with being a successful producer in Nashville.

Ken was ready to get to work right away, but Stephen only had a couple of finished songs at that point in January 2022. It was also during one of the lockdown phases of the pandemic, so Stephen couldn’t tour—and it’s while being on the road that he gets ideas for songs.

“I liken it to Charlie Brown with the football,” he said. “They kept dangling the possibility of opening things up and then taking it away. It was a pretty dark time.”

Eventually, though, Stephen was able to hit the road, and plans were made to record an album. Part of those plans included launching an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.

Since he was using an American producer in Nashville, Stephen knew he couldn’t apply for any of the usual government funding programs. But he needn’t have worried about raising money for the project—he set a plan to raise the money in three months and, in fact, had raised it in three weeks.

“It was a real learning experience for me,” he said. “I realized that I have an audience out there that’s willing to put their money where their mouths are, and that crowdfunding is just another way to create interest in what you’re doing.”

Once he knew the budget was in place, Stephen started writing more songs. Recording the tracks in Nashville took about a week in March of last year, with the mixing done the following May.

For those who’ve ever wondered what’s so important about mixing a record, Stephen can tell you firsthand. Returning home after mixing the album, he didn’t listen to it until he had a long drive in the car. On the way to a gig at the now-closed Dream Café in Penticton, B.C., Stephen listened to the album over and over again.

“I kept wanting it to sound good—and it didn’t sound good at all!” he said.

Distraught at the prospect of having spent a lot of time and money on an album that didn’t sound right, Stephen emailed his friend John Whynot, asking for his opinion. The two had previously collaborated on Stephen’s album Between Hurricanes. When John agreed the album didn’t sound very good, Stephen asked him to remix it—which John did at his studio in Boston.

“It was a great relief and another lesson learned,” he said. “You really can make or break a record in the mix.”

While some songwriters are always writing, for Stephen, once an album is released, his creative side shuts down and lets the performing side take over. The challenge comes when, in the middle of writing, the performer sticks his nose in, wondering where the song will fit into the set list.

“You have to lock the door and keep him out of the room,” Stephen said.

Since The Empathist was released earlier this year, Stephen has worked harder than ever. The album is out on his own label, Ging Records—named after his mother’s maiden name. The idea for his own label was to be fully involved in the promotion of his record.

“So the pressure’s on me to keep it going,” he said. “The whole system of promoting records has fallen apart. It’s a real challenge to keep it alive.”

The best way for Stephen to keep The Empathist alive is to tour it—which he’s doing with his friends The Sentimentals from Denmark. They have shows scheduled for late September in the UK, followed by a series of Ontario dates in October.

Stephen has also submitted the album for consideration at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.

“Certainly, live work is the best way to keep an album going,” he said.

For more on Stephen Fearing and The Empathist, visit https://www.stephenfearing.ca.