The Fred Eaglesmith Show Featuring Tif Ginn

Often compared to the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Joe Ely, Steve Earle, John Prine, Robert Earl Keen and Bob Dylan, veteran singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith grew up on a farm in southern Ontario and started writing songs and playing guitar when he was a teenager. He says he saw Elvis perform on TV, and he was instantly hooked. At the time he recorded his 1980 debut album, he worked as a high-pressure washer. He'd work all day and then record his album at night. Daniel Lanois, an up-and-coming studio engineer who'd go on to work with U2, tracked the disc. Eaglesmith has steadily recorded and toured ever since. For tonight’s show at the Beachland, his wife Tif Ginn will join him. The two have collaborated extensively in the past few years, and Eaglesmith has produced her forthcoming album. They wrote the track “Said It Before,” a beautiful ballad, together. “Tif brings me these song ideas and I can finish them up so well,” Eaglesmith says. “She can sing things that I can hear but I can’t sing, so I do some things that I know she can sing. For years and years, I had my mind focused on being a classic songwriter. That’s an aspiration. All the songwriters have disappeared in the Americana world and they’re still disappearing. I dabble all the time in the world of Dean Martin and the guys who wrote for Elvis. I love to write like that, and she loves that world too. That’s where our heads are at. In my unbiased opinion, it’s a beautiful, beautiful record.” Her record will come out early this year, and Eaglesmith will issue a live album that he just recorded. Eaglesmith has said that his most recent album, 2017’s Standard, reflects his age. “I’m 61,” he says. “A lot of my friends are still trying to appear younger. It’s hard for them to live their age. I understand. I feel young and vibrant, and I look in the mirror and think, ‘How the fuck did this happen?’ I don’t want to pretend I’m a rocker. I love the plumber who shows up at my house who’s been doing it for 40 or 50 years. He’s not pretending to be anything. He’s just a plumber, but he knows everything about plumbing. In this world of ego up front, I’m trying to keep in mind the guy who just knows. Standard was an attempt at that.”