Fred Eaglesmith

Canadian singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith turns country and folk into vivid stories of working lives, small-town heartbreak and hard-won humor. His songs can shift from tender to wry, pairing plainspoken characters with the rough-edged roots sound heard on albums such as Drive-In Movie and Lipstick, Lies & Gasoline. “Wilder Than Her,” later recorded by Dar Williams, and “Thirty Years of Farming,” which became a bluegrass hit for James King, show the reach of his writing. Eaglesmith’s appeal lies in songs that feel like short stories: intimate, surprising and rich with the details of everyday life.