Fred Eaglesmith looks and sounds like a man who'd be as comfortable onstage as he would with the logistics of detangling a busted serpentine belt on a '78 Ford pickup. A rural, working-class (his latest album's called Balin') alt-country songwriter from Ontario, Eaglesmith wears his love for normal folks as comfortably as Tom T. Hall ever did. And like compatriot Neil Young, he ain't opposed to a bit of guitar skronk every so often. Eaglesmith has developed a devoted following (with the unexpectedly whimsical nickname "Fredheads") by writing songs with the impact of classic novels; there hasn't been a snowplow driver as realistic as the one in "Cumberland County" since Russell Banks devoted an entire heartbreaking book to one in Affliction. Either solo or accompanied by mandolin master Willie P. Bennett, there's not a more down-to-earth songwriter on this continent.
