Stephen Fearing ~ That's How I Walk

Already well known in folk circles, Vancouver-born Stephen Fearing has been gaining broader recognition with each album. That's How I Walk, his fifth, furthers the Juno-nominated singer-guitarist's reputation as one of the country's finest songwriters. "Showbiz" is a string-laced number with the inspired, beyond-Bogart line "I was hers / You were his / That's showbiz." "Rave on Captain," from its opening mandolin and acoustic riff to its mournful, Dylan-esque organ, is a highlight, as is "The Finest Kind." Co-written with Junkhouse's Tom Wilson, the latter tune gets marks for stealing from the best by tearing a page out of British folk-rocker Richard Thompson's songbook, from the singer's forceful phrasing to the ramshackle tempo and harmony vocal from Shawn Colvin (who has also sung with Thompson). Smart arrangements, like the strings on the delicate "Glory Train," and superb musicianship, including producer (and Blackie & the Rodeo Kings bandmate) Colin Linden's electric slide on "Like the Way You Said," add to a collection of songs that owe as much to blues and rock as folk.

1. Like the Way You Said
2. Finest Kind
3. Town Called Jesus
4. Showbiz
5. On the Great Divide
6. Me and Mr. Blue
7. Rave on Captain
8. When My Baby Calls My Name
9. That's How I Walk
10. Glory Train
11. Wailing Wall
12. Black Silk Gown
13. Meghan Hayden's
14. Parting Glass