Calling all 'Fredheads'

NEWS RELEASE

FRED EAGLESMITH

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THUNDER BAY - During this election year, iconoclastic singer, original songwriter and unforgettable live performer Fred Eaglesmith and his hard-charging band are still the alternative Rock and Roll Party. 

Fred continues to shake, rattle and roll up the two-party system with a campaign that supports an entirely more enjoyable party – one that’s all about the music.  Stumping town-to-town, Eaglesmith has been rallying crowds in the hundreds as an original, independent songwriter.  “We tell people about the Party of Rock & Roll every night.”  

Eaglesmith was described by the Bend (Ore.) Bulletin as “a singer-songwriter with a loyal fan base; a raconteur known for his funny stories and sometimes funny, sometimes poignant songs … a figure to who ‘entertainer,’ ‘iconoclast,’ ‘humorous’ and ‘original’ can be applied in equal measure.”

Fred and his band perform concerts and Legion shows in small and large halls across North America that other performers don’t play. He has played train tours and remote sites.

Just in Northern Ontario, who else but Fred Eaglesmith has played Chapleau, Red Rock, Nipigon, Stanley, Murillo, Atikokan, Thessalon, Blind River, Killarney, Espanola, Geraldton, Marathon, Manitouwadge, White River and Wawa, in addition to the bigger cities like Elliot Lake, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins and Thunder Bay?   

No one else has done that. Eaglesmith travels almost everywhere in a self contained converted bus.  It’s not an Olympic marathon; it’s a North American ultra marathon.

The band is five performers: Fred Eaglesmith (lead vocals and guitar), Matty Simpson (electric guitar, banjo, keyboard), Kori Heppner (Drums and Merchandise Mojo), Justine Fischer (The first lady of the stand up bass) and Tiff Ginn (Texas show stopper, vocalist, guitar and accordion). 

This group will be rocking their new show with fans in October, 2016 in Northern Ontario after a tour of Western Canada with these new dates:

Tuesday, October 25, 2016. Finlandia Hall, 314 Bay St, Thunder Bay, ON. 8 p.m. show. Doors open at 7.  $25 Advance Tickets will be available at the Hoito Restaurant, Fireweed and Chaltrek in Thunder Bay, and online at www.fredeaglesmith.com  Door price will be $30. (Handicapped accessible, renovated century wood hall above Hoito Restaurant. Bar will be open before the show and intermission only). 

Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016. Schreiber Royal Canadian Legion, Winnipeg St., Schreiber, ON.  Tickets available online and locally at the Voyageur Esso after Labour Day. Advance Tickets $25, Door $30.  (First time playing Schreiber.  Smaller legion hall, intimate setting, approximately 2 hours east of Thunder Bay.)

Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. Bruce Mines Community Hall, Highway 17, Bruce Mines, Ontario (East of Sault Ste. Marie by approximately 1 hour), close to Desbarats, Thessalon, Iron Bridge, and St. Joseph’s Island.  Advance Tickets $25 and $30 at the door.  Tickets are available online at www.fredeaglesmith.com and local outlets and in Sault at The Rad Zone after Labour Day. (Big beautiful hall, newly renovated.)

Friday, Oct. 28, 2016. Gore Bay Community Hall, Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island.  Advance Tickets $25 available online now and locally after Labour Day.  Door price will be $30.  (Large tall ceilings,  older wood hall, newly renovated.)

Fred has not played Manitoulin Island in several years, but it was a horse ranch, and he played outside from a little porch of a guest cabin, and on that date, he complained once or twice about his “miserable little life”.

He offered new nick names for the horse ranch. He got stuck on the subject of Port Carling, until some older lady on the lawn finally yelled out “OK”, and he started singing again.

At venues like this you may hear some of his western songs, such as Dusty, Tired, and Pistols and Rifles.  And there are of course travel songs and dialogues and stories from foreign countries. 

There are over 20 original albums now, with a new one in the works. There are numerous Fred Eaglesmith songs, and each show is unique and special because they have to be when you play original places.

On Saturday, Oct. 29, Fred and the band will be on the big stage at the Copper Cliff Italian Club, where they will do a special dinner show ($50 including meal advance price, $60 at door).  Copper Cliff is the Nickel Capital of Canada, located in the west part of Sudbury.

Fred Eaglesmith wakes up most mornings to write songs and performs about 250 shows each year. A true “road dog”, on a never ending tour, Eaglesmith has had his share of interesting vehicles, repairs, and even fires. 

Fred Eaglesmith is a songwriter’s songwriter with a deep discography informed by miles of experience. As most artists aspire to get higher up, closer in or just plain in the music business, rocker Fred Eaglesmith continues to look for ways to do just the opposite. And his ongoing “Legions of Legions” mini-tours are just the ticket.

“My fans come and we’ll get a lot of people from the town, who basically can’t believe there’s an actual music show in their area. Some people even drive in from the cities.”

“A lot of the halls are really nice, wood buildings on the inside. They’ve got real mojo in those rooms and it just has that feel of the jamborees when artists like Patsy Cline and Elvis would go around to little halls in the late ’50s.”

Adding to the old-school feel are pie auctions in Legion shows. “I’m the auctioneer,” he says. “We stop the show and auction two pies per night. Fans make them and we use the first two to arrive.”

The effort has raised more than $11,000 for Operation Smile, which offers facial reconstruction – primarily for cleft palates – to children in third-world countries. “It costs about $250 for each kid,” Fred explains. “So we may be changing the lives of a couple of kids per show.

We have tried to describe what a Fred Eaglesmith show is like, but you will have to see it for yourself and become a fan of Fred and find a t-shirt.  You should see this band play live in Northern Ontario and bring your friends.

Dust off the passenger seat. Get the vehicle gassed up. Bring your Dad and your Father in Law. They are very hard to buy for, right? Get them a Fred Eaglesmith CD.

One show will never be enough for some fans and they follow him around. They are called "Fredheads".  Why not plan a road trip this October with Fred and meet the band? 

See the Algoma fall colours and this very colourful, attractive, talented and hard working traveling band as they cross the top of Lake Superior (Thunder Bay and Schreiber) and play near Lake Huron (Bruce Mines and Gore Bay, Manitoulin Island), prior to a Sudbury Saturday Night show near the Big Nickel, in Copper Cliff. It all happens Oct. 25 to Oct. 29 in Northern Ontario.

Check out the tour at www.fredeaglesmith.com.  

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