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Country-folk singer/songwriter Fred J. Eaglesmith was one of nine children born to a farming family in rural southern Ontario. While still in his teens, he hopped a freight train to Western Canada and began his life as a performing songwriter. Often employing his difficult upbringing as raw material for his heartland narratives, he issued his self-titled debut LP in 1980. He recorded infrequently throughout the remainder of the decade, releasing only two more albums, The Boy That Just Went Wrong and Indiana Road. However, Eaglesmith gradually became an underground favorite in his native Canada, thanks largely to a relentless touring schedule with his longtime band -- bassist Ralph Schipper and mandolinist Willie P. Bennett. The band was alternately called the Flying Squirrels or the Flathead Noodlers, depending upon the style of music they were playing. Beginning in the early '90s, Eaglesmith's recorded output increased dramatically, and over the next two decades, he would firmly establish himself with more than a dozen albums and countless live performances. In 2000, he formed his own record company, A Major Label, on which he released albums like 2002's Falling Stars and Broken Hearts, 2004's Dusty, and 2006's Milly's Cafe. He also released a pair of Official Bootleg Series collections documenting his live solo sets. Over the years, Eaglesmith's songs have followed the narratives of various down-and-out rural characters and subjects, and he's become known for his often lengthy and comic storytelling on-stage. In the 2010s, his output remained strong and of high quality with acclaimed releases like 2010's Cha Cha Cha, 2011's 6 Volts, and 2013's Tambourine. In early 2017, Eaglesmith delivered his 21st studio album, Standard.
Tif Ginn lives in a shack on the north shore of Lake Erie in Ontario, Canada with her husband and kid. She was born & raised in Texas but has been living in Canada for the last 5 years. She is slowly freezing to death. To postpone her inevitable demise, she tours relentlessly with her husband, preferable in warmer climates as often as she can. This subzero existence has as also taken a toll on her creative process. The result is a dramatic shift in the new work- which is much more related to sunnier, rhythmic driven genres than perhaps the conventional themes and attitudes she has been known for up until now. The turning point in this shift was the purchase of a very expensive set of winter insulated snow pants. Her new appreciation for layers of winter clothing has carried with it a profound optimism and underlying joy even through her saddest work. A newfound enthusiasm both by her and for her has come about- it's definitely a metamorphosis. Whatever that is. These days music is discussed in terms of likes, hits, shares, and downloads- these terms are negated when true passion and love for the love of it comes shining through. The love and the love of it comes shining through not only in Tif Ginn's work; but in her stage presence and her general attitude toward life.
