Folk musician North Easton will be stopping in Fernie for two shows. While the artist will be taking the stage alone, he is touring the country with his family, making for what he says is a truly unforgettable experience.
“The fact that I get to play music and share my stories with people at night, and live love and laugh with my kids during the day is the definition of happiness to me,” Easton told The Free Press.
Everyday, the musician listens to something that touches his heart and the sound and style of his music adapts to the new music paths. He describes his sound as a mix of many of the artists he listened to as he grew up.
“I grew up listening to my mother playing guitar at the kitchen table as she strummed and sang along to the likes of Cat Stevens, James Taylor, John Denver, Don McLean, Neil Diamond, Crystal Gayle, Paul Simon and a whole bunch of other talented songwriters,” he said. “As I grew older, I was drawn into the soul of the songwriter. Tracy Chapman, Adam Duritz, Phil Collins and Dave Matthews.”
Easton will be touring to support his new album, One of the Lucky Ones, which will be run in limited edition and will be released this coming October. His single “Change” has been getting airplay across the country. While the audience might hear some songs from his new album, his song repertoire is extensive.
“Choosing songs is not an easy thing with the number that I have in my catalogue. A lot of it takes place in the venue itself as I adjust to every room I perform in,” he said. “I build my show trying to encompass a number of emotions: happy, sad, curious, love, anger, hope, inspiration, novelty, and fear.”
Easton grew up in western Canada, and while he doesn’t live in B.C. anymore, he tries to get back to the province at least once a year.
“I am looking forward to meeting new people, and exploring the area around Fernie with my wife and children. We plan on taking in the local sights before and after my shows,” he said.
Easton was a semi-finalist in the 2015 International Songwriting Competition with the song “Love Like That”, which was co-written with Rosanne Baker Thornley. He has written well over a thousand songs, and he estimates that only 10 per cent of those have been collaborations.
“I love the song that was submitted for the International Songwriting Competition. It is on my new album and was very hooky and fun to write,” he said. “A collaboration is an interesting beast; if it works, than you head into different directions that you never would have expected. You have to rise to the challenge or get sucked up into the silence of a room. It’s fun – I feel I bring out the story in the writers I work with. I push them to look deep within themselves. It can be very therapeutic for those who walk the line with me.”
On Easton’s website, he states that he dreams of making a time machine to go back and visit the songwriters of his inspiration.
“I would love to go back and be a fly on the wall of Don McLean’s writing room when he wrote the song ‘The Grave’, or sit in on a writing session with Paul Simon as he picked the first chord from ‘Sounds of Silence’,” he said. “I would go back to the moment Tracy Chapman sang ‘Behind the Wall’ acapella just to listen and hear what pulled her to write that tune.”
North Easton is looking forward to performing two shows in Fernie. He plays at 6 p.m. on July 29 at The Loaf and will take the stage at The Fernie on July 30.
