Listen to I’d Have To Be A Stone – Stephen Fearing

Waking and sleeping – Stephen Fearing reaches the lonely places of the heart on BARK’s “South”

“In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning” said American author F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Stephen Fearing found the dark night of the soul on Blackie and the Rodeo Kings new CD South.

Backed by the plaintive Dobro guitar of Colin Linden, Fearing reaches a quiet loneliness on the torch song “I’d Have To Be A Stone” with an upper range that reminds me of Roy Orbison. The band plays tastefully in the background not interrupting his plaintive reverie.

“I’d Have To Be A Stone” struck me as special on the first play of the CD South but it was waking in the middle of the night with the song playing in my head that convinced me.

Here’s the song recorded by a fan at their Hamilton, ON concert January 29, 2014. The CD version is slightly better. Get it.

Thankfully “South” only reaches that emotional point once otherwise it would be like hearing Roy Orbison sing “Crying” over and over.

Go see Blackie and The Rodeo Kings on the rest of their Canadian tour and get a copy of “South”.  It’s a sleeper CD that gets inside your head, like all of Blackie and The Rodeo Kings CDs.

Feb. 5: Red Lake, Ont., Red Lake High School
Feb. 7: Airdrie, Alta., Bert Church Theatre
Feb. 8: Sherwood Park, Alta., Festival Place
Feb. 11: Salt Spring Island, B.C., Salt Spring Island Folk Club
Feb. 12: Duncan, B.C., Cowichan Theatre

Also an upcoming CBC show on February 14th in Vancouver The Toque Sessions 7:30 PM.

Talking about sleepers, I gotta get some more rest but the song did get me get past 4:00 AM. I’m not afraid of 3 AM any more.

Blackie and The Rodeo Kings is an alt-country group consisting of three independent artists: Colin Linden, guitar player and Nashville producer, Tom Wilson  singer/songwriter and Stephen Fearing, singer songwriter are all great musicians. Colin Linden has the sweetest blues country guitar sound. Tom Wilson, self-proclaimed bad boy, is a giant of a singer with a deep baritone and Stephen Fearing is sensitive almost tender balladeer. Each time they put out a CD, it’s the sum is greater than the parts all over again.

For the full story on South, see Blackie and The Rodeo Kings New CD South.  Get South from Amazon.ca or South from Amazon.com. For more information on the band, tours and band swag, check out Blackie and The Rodeo Kings.

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