Fred Eaglesmith & the Flying Squirrel Revue
Empire Arts Center, Grand Forks, North Dakota
April 30, 2005

I'm a Fredhead. I'm one of a group of wild and wacky people that doesn't think twice about traveling great distances to see the one and only Fred Eaglesmith. I think it's largely because of that group of people that I do it. I like the community and the people and the way that we share ideas and stories and road trips together. The awful truth of it is that, when you get right down to it, I'm not all that huge of a fan of Fred. Sure, he writes some great songs, but for me, he's become so reliable and predictable that I'm not all that excited by him anymore. Sure, he tried to throw a wrench in that by releasing the odd and unexpected (and awful, if you ask me) Dusty last year, but for the most part, Fred is Fred and he always will be.

The biggest part of his predictability comes with those live shows that I've traveled great lengths to see. This was supposed to be just the same as all the others I'd seen. Fred is NOT like a box of chocolates, because you always know what you're going to get. You're going to get a show that is funny, entertaining, and a rockin' good time. Fred is so good at what he does that it's become old hat to me. I know the jokes, I know the songs, I know what it's going to be like.

Part of what I've come to expect is a bit of frustration. You see, I'm a huge fan of Fred's bandleader, Willie P Bennett, but I've never seen him perform his own songs live. Part of the thrill of going to see Fred is being close to Willie and watching him work. But I've always wondered why it is that Fred never, ever invites Willie to sing one of his songs or open a show. One song per night would go a long way. It would allow fans like me to see Willie perform at least one of his songs, and it would surely allow Willie to sell a ton of CDs. I always wondered how you could have someone so talented in your band and never acknowledge him or let him do his own thing.

Well, I guess you can teach old dogs new tricks from time to time, because this show was billed as Fred Eaglesmith and "The Flying Squirrel Revue." This turned out to be a brief opening set featuring none other than the master himself, Willie P Bennett, along with some of Fred's great secret weapons, his band members. I'm not sure who talked Fred into it or why he's doing it, but I'm glad that these talented guys finally get some time to shine on their own.

First up was Roger Marin. Roger put out a CD a while ago, and has actually opened for Fred a few times along the way, but I've managed to miss him every time. I found out that he will be doing a show in Winnipeg on July 4 with another guy I've been dying to see, Hayes Carll, so I figured that would be my first opportunity to hear what Roger sounded like on his own. Luckily, The Flying Squirrel Revue gives him the chance to show off 3 of his own tunes. He performed solo and with the rest of the band backing him and put on a great, if way too brief, show. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing him in July now. Moreso because Roger wants to bring Hayes on my radio show before that gig. That will be super cool.

Fred Eaglesmith is one of the most gifted live performers in the world, there's no doubt about that. And like I said, occasionally, he writes an incredible song ("Drive in Movie" and "White Rose" have to be among the best of all time) but for the most part, his songs tend to be rather simplistic and redundant. Don't get me wrong, he's one of my favourites of all time, and always will be, but Fred isn't trying to reinvent the wheel. He knows what folks want to hear, and for the most part (Dusty aside), he gives us exactly what we want, and he does it well.

To be perfectly honest, when it comes to songwriting (a subject that I take seriously), Willie P Bennett is one of the finest that ever lived. His songs are so simple and moving and perfect. I like a song that is simple and easy to relate to, but one that has some thought and intelligence behind it. Willie does all of that and more. He's also got that great, deep voice. I probably listen to his records more often than Fred's.

And so it was with great excitement that I finally saw him for the first time. After all of the time that I'd spent wanting to see him do his thing, he probably could have come out and sung "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and I would have loved it (actually, now that I think about it, that might be strangely cool...). Luckily, Willie did not do that. He performed three great songs and sounded just as great as I could have hoped. A couple of folks remarked to me after the show that he sounded a little rough, and that his voice was showing some wear. I guess I can't really comment, having never heard him sing his songs live before, but I remember being impressed with how great his voice sounded, and how well it had held up.

I'm a little fixated, can you tell?

Then came Fred. In true Revue fashion, the band kicked into Fred's opening number ("I Like Trains") and the star walked on just in time to start singing. Sometimes that kind of thing can be a bit cheesy. That's all I've got to say 'bout that.

Hey, how'd he get in here? This is supposed to be about Fred.

I've had the good fortune of meeting Fred a number of times and have been able to interview him a few times along the way. He's always been nice to me and he always treats people well, so long as they're not rude to him. He's just a good ol' boy who's good at what he does.

But I'll be honest with you. Fred has never once come across as all that genuine. Heck, even the way he talks seems put on. My friend Geoff Berner wrote a song about Fred, which he calls "Phony Drawl." Whenever I see Fred or talk to him or interview him, I feel like he's performing. On the one hand, he's quick to voice and opinion, and can at times seem bold or even rude over the course of doing so, but even then, it seems at times like a bit of a calculated move. He wants you to believe that he doesn't care what people think and that he's just telling it like it is, but really, I think it's all part of a carefully crafted image. Fred's been at this a long time and has performed so many thousands of shows that he's perfected his craft to the point where he knows exactly what to do and not do, in order to keep people coming back and buying more of his stuff.

And here's a guy that knows about selling stuff. He's either a marketing genius or one hell of a greedy bastard. Perhaps it's a combination of the two. He'll sign his name to almost anything if he thinks some dumb Fredhead will shell out money for it. And we always do. On this trip, new to the merch table were Fred Eaglesmith guitar picks (three for a dollar) and even Fred Eaglesmith broken guitar string earrings. That's right, the guitar strings that he doesn't even pay for (a shrewd businessman like Fred, of course has a string sponsorship) can now be sold to his fans after they've outlived their usefulness. Who doesn't need a broken guitar string stuck in their ear? Who knows whether they've all been played by Fred or not, but you can bet that he's collecting the cash, whether they have been or not.

I say, good for him. If he can convince me to buy this crap, then he must be doing his job (for the record, I did not buy picks or earrings, but I did pay $25 US for a CD that cost Fred nothing to produce...). I know how hard it is for independent musicians, and I've often urged starving artists to look at Fred's model and tap into some of his sources of income. He got rich by giving fans a ton of stuff to buy, and making them feel like they should be buying it, and a lot of artists could learn something from that. But on the other hand, it doesn't seem to fit with his aw-shucks, down to earth, simple farm boy persona. Again, it seems part of a calculated plan to convince me that he really needs my money and appreciates it, but really, he's got more money than he really needs. Sure, he does support charities from time to time and helps out others with his record label and stuff, but you can bet that at each opportunity, those things turn into Fred Eaglesmith fundraisers along the way.  

Again, I mean the man no disrespect. He's one of the most gifted entertainers I've ever seen. I just don't think he's all that great of a person. A couple more stories to illustrate my point.

The fist one's a bit weak, because it doesn't directly involve me or Fred, for that matter, but for me, it kind of reflects Fred's attitude. My Fredhead friend Shelly went to buy a  CD at the show in Grand Forks. She only had Canadian money on her, and asked Fred's merch girl, Kori (in pink, behind the drums there) if she could pay with Canadian money. The answer was a steadfast no. I found that really hard to understand. Why would a Canadian band refuse to accept Canadian money? Especially since the next night, they were playing in Canada and would be selling the same CDs for the same price, but in Canadian funds! But you can bet that they'd take US currency on our side of the border. Again, this might not have had anything to do with Fred, but he's the boss, makes the rules, and hires employees, so whatever happens at his show reflects on him.

The next story is a bit more troublesome for me. I've always wondered how Fred lives the life that he does, on the road all the time, when he has kids at home. His hectic schedule means that he's not around for friends or family much at all. I don't get that, because family is very important to me, but I accept that others have different values and priorities than I do, and so whatever Fred does is his business. However, the story of his Grand Forks show is rather exceptional.

I understand that Fred is a consummate professional, and doesn't like to ever cancel a show, and I respect him for that. However, on the day of his Grand Forks show, he was to attend the funeral of someone he called a "great friend and teacher." He speaks of this friend all the time in his show, since he is the one that taught Fred all about Buddhism and I guess made him the man he is today. Fred went to great lengths to be at the funeral, and you have to commend him for that. He played in Fargo the night before, then drove up to Winnipeg early in the morning to catch a flight back to Ontario to attend the wedding, then flew back to Winnipeg and drove back down to Grand Forks (border crossings are always a hassle if you're a musician) and made it to the show on time. Now that's devotion to your audience and your job. But what does it say about the importance of friends and family? Sure, he made an extraordinary effort to make an appearance, but with all of that traveling in one day, how much time do you think he got to spend with friends and family at or after the funeral? Isn't that the point of going? To share your experiences of the one you've lost, and comfort friends and family? Fred doesn't have time for that, because he's got a career to think of. Maybe he didn't want to disappoint his fans, and I appreciate that, but any one of us, if we had known that Fred had lost someone near and dear, would have understood why the show didn't go on that night in Grand Forks. Instead, the show did go on, and I'm left not understanding why it had to. The theatre wasn't sold out, it wasn't a huge gig, and we would have had a great time anyway (hey, maybe Willie and Roger could have done full sets. Now that would have made up for Fred not making it!).

During the show, Fred spoke of his friend Richard, but he told the same old stories at the same old points in the show. Maybe that's Fred's way of dealing with things, is to put on his performer face and do his job. But to make jokes and tell the same old stories on a night when you buried a dear friend, I just don't understand. That "show must go on" mentality comes at the expense of the things that are really important, and I can't help but think that when Fred is done touring like a madman, he'll have an awfully lonely life to go back to. But, again, maybe he likes it that way, and I don't begrudge him for that.

The fact of the matter is that you don't have to be a great person to make great music. It's not a performer's job to make us all love him/her as a person. It must be a strange feeling to have your personality and your life made so public. As soon as you become a celebrity of any stature, people feel like they know you, and to some degree, some people start to judge you. It goes with the territory, really. If celebrities don't want to accept a certain amount of criticism from boneheads like me, then they shouldn't be working in the public eye. But I know that Fred Eaglesmith will be just fine, and won't lose too much sleep just because this bonehead doesn't necessarily think that Fred is man of the year material, especially since this bonehead will keep going to shows and buying junk that has Fred Eaglesmith written on it, and buying and promoting his CDs, whether they be predictable and safe or weird and unexpected. I really don't care. I just know that Fred is guaranteed to show me a good time any time I go see him, and he's guaranteed to write more great songs. And that's his sole responsibility to me or any other bonehead. And if there comes a time when my feelings about Fred as a person become more important than the great music he makes, then I'm always welcome to stop listening and stop going to shows. But that would mean that I'd miss out on the great community of Fredheads, and maybe miss out on my chance to someday see Willie P Bennett take over the show and have Fred playing in HIS band for once. Wouldn't that be something to see? Never gonna happen, sadly.