Canadian singer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith isn’t afraid to explore different musical paths.
“Everybody I know and a lot of my friends are doing alternative country music now, which is what I do. It’s 
all out of tune vocals and steel guitars, which is my specialty. So I figured we didn’t need another album like that, there are millions of alternative country albums, now,” Eaglesmith said explaining his new CD, Cha Cha Cha which has a Bossa Nova feel.
“It has a great beat and people just want to dance to it. I’ve been listening to Cuban music and samba music for a long time. So just for fun , I started recording some songs in my studio and played them for a really good friend of mine who loved it,” he continued adding only a few of the new songs make it into the set list including ‘Careless,’, I Would,’ and ‘Shallow.’
“It’s been a good tour so far, it’s only been 10 days so we aren’t too beat up yet,” said Eaglesmith on the phone from Nanton, en route to a show in Twin Butte at the Twin Butte Country Store tonight followed by a sold out show at the Slice, tomorrow (July 13).
“People really seem to like the beat,” he added, emphasizing he is not trying to be weird when he records a new CD, he is just exploring different musical and stylistic paths.
“It’s like when your traveling on a road and see another road and decide to explore it,” he said.
“I’m not trying to be different or weird, the music just keeps changing. I’ve been doing this since I was 10-years-old. Sometimes it goes forward, sometimes it goes backwards, sometimes it goes sideways. It’s just a different road,” he continued.
“That was really good. People were really excited to see it. I play a lot of television shows, you just get up on stage and play your song,” he said adding even though big name country must stars like Toby Keith and Alan Jackson plus Miranda Lambert are recording his songs (‘White Rose,’ ‘Freight Train’ and ‘Time To Get A Gun’ respectively) he is too focused on the work at hand to pay it much mind.
“I like it when anyone records my songs. But when it comes down to it, you still have to pull the truck up to the club and play your show. Most of the country guys play them pretty close to what I play. I guess the most unusual version of one of my songs was a reggae version of ‘I Like Trains’ that I heard in Barbados,” he said adding he is enjoying the new live show.
“It’s a real rock and roll show mixed with a circus. There’s a ringmaster, sometimes there ’s a clown, sometimes there isn’t,” he said adding he is using the same band as well as the Fabulous Ginn Sisters, who not only perform an opening set, but also join him on stage for his set. He ended up producing their new CD “You Can’t Take A Bad Girl Home.”
“We’ve been friends for many years and we just started recording for fun in my studio and all of the sudden it got serious,” he continued adding that experience turned into the Ginn Sisters’ new CD ‘You Can’t Take A Bad Girl Home,” which Eaglesmith produced. While the Fabulous Ginn Sisters as well as Eaglesmith’s band ‘the Freaks’ are playing the South Country Fair, July 16, Eaglesmith himself won’t be making a surprise appearance.
“It will be just them and my band ‘the Freaks. I’ve got other stuff to do— friends to visit,” he said adding he is looking forward to coming back to Lethbridge.
“I always love going to Lethbridge,” he said.
