Preview

This exceptional Toronto-based singer-songwriter shared the bill with Oh Susanna at the Talbot in May 2003, and so impressed us all with his great songs, remarkable guitar skills, uniquely emotional voice, and charismatic stage presence, that a return visit, headlining his own show this time, was a 'must'.

For almost two decades Fearing has been penning some of the most literate and emotionally charged 'folk' music on the planet. His seventh and latest CD, 2003's 'That's How I Walk', is a defining work in the career of one of Canada's most respected artists, blending a raw, streetwise edge with evocative, soul-searching imagery to produce music of quiet passion and depth. His voice, once heard, is unforgettable, and he's a real 'guitarist's guitarist', nothing less; fans of John Martyn or Richard Thompson will recognize in Fearing a fellow master craftsman, yet Stephen is still very much his own man.

Stephen Fearing 'wowed' our audience last time. He's one of the finest solo performers we've seen - be sure to come along and make the discovery for yourselves.

'The lyrics are articulate poetry, the guitar playing is superlative, and everything grooves like a sonofabitch ... moved me to tears' - puremusic

'Without question one of the finest singer-songwriters working today' - John P. McLaughlin

Review

The 'wow factor' was firmly in place tonight, which featured the return of our favourite Canadian singer-songwriter and, for openers, the Talbot debut of a prodigiously gifted young guitar wizard.

Tom Chant came strongly recommended by our friends at the Queen's Hall, Narberth, where he and his father have appeared regularly as a duo, Nagus. Okay, let's get the age issue out of the way for starters: Tom's just turned eighteen, and he's been playing for a mere five years, but the level of sophistication he's reached in such a short time is barely believable. When pressed for influences, he cites Australian virtuoso Tommy Emmanuel and the late Michael Hedges, both of whom have fearlessly pushed the envelope of acoustic guitar playing. Tom performs self-composed pieces with titles like 'Out On A Limb', 'The Puppeteer', 'Thornapple', and 'Thousand Years', each of them an essay in adventurous composition - he's not afraid to go atonal - and each a showcase for his jaw-dropping technical chops: lightning-quick picking, cross-hands hammering-on, and dazzling use of harmonics, to mention just three. All this, plus a confidently modest stage presence, adds up to a fast-developing talent with a bright future ... another five years on, and we reckon Tom Chant could be in a class of his own.

Nobody in the room was more impressed by Tom than Stephen Fearing, who first played for us last year, co-billed with Oh Susanna - Stephen's seen and played alongside some of Canada's and America's best over the last twenty years, and his own guitar playing's never less than wonderful. His combined Canadian roots and Irish upbringing are clearly audible in the structure and temper of his songs - there's a strong Celtic/Irish edge to many of his melodies, and especially in his hugely emotive and instantly recognizable voice. In the course of a two-hour non-stop set (the time just flew by), we got plenty from Stephen's fine current CD, including 'The Finest Kind', 'Black Silk Gown', 'Showbiz', 'Glory Train', the touching 'When My Baby Calls My Name', and title track 'That's How I Walk' (as powerful a song of travelling and loss as you'll ever hear). Gems from his back catalogue of six albums included the thought-provoking 'Man O'War' (which morphed into a great John Martyn cover), 'Wailing Wall', the brilliant 'Dog On A Chain', and (by request of yours truly) the heart-stopping 'Turn Out The Light' (from 1991's 'Blue Line', which has slipped off the radar - his only album unavailable on CD), which is about the bravest song I know ... As a bonus, Stephen aired his guitar chops on a John Renbourn-inspired 'Early One Morning'/'Plains of Waterloo', and rolled out a newie, co-written with cult Scots troubadour Andy White.

Charisma, guitar virtuosity, articulate songcraft, powerful imagery, amiable audience rapport, and that great one-of-a-kind voice, all these make Fearing a songwriter and performer of real substance who's a firm Cambria Arts favourite, and he'll definitely be back ... no hardship for Stephen and his wife Chris, who have adopted Llanddewi Brefi as a holiday base/home-from-home. And home, it turns out, isn't Toronto at all, but the fine township of Guelph!