Acclaimed and award-winning singer-songwriter Fred Eaglesmith
is known and lauded for his telling and empathetic portraits in song of
working class and dispossessed people. And he acts on his principles by
adding a special benefit show to his annual Fred Eaglesmith Winter Weekend
festival in Port Dover, Ontario for laid-off and locked-out steelworkers
from nearby U.S. Steel plants in Hamilton and Nanticoke. The December 20
show will raise funds for the workers and offer free tickets to members of
the United Steelworkers union that represents them.
U.S. Steel laid off some 800 workers and later locked out another 150 from
March through August this year at the Nanticoke plant and temporarily shut
down the Nanticoke and Hamilton plants in violation of union contracts and
the agreement the company made with the Canadian government when it
purchased the facilities in 2007. It also slashed employee pension plans and
health care benefits for retired workers and froze wages and cost of living
increases for active workers. Both the Steelworkers union and the Canadian
government are suing U.S. Steel as a result of its actions, and the union is
supporting a bid by Lakeside Steel to purchase the plants and fulfill the
operating and union agreements.
Eaglesmith’s benefit is part of a widespread community effort in Southern
Ontario to aid the steelworkers. “When people act with no conscience they
call them sociopaths. When corporations act the same way they call it
business,” says Eaglesmith of the matter.
Fred’s most recent and 17th album, Tinderbox, has been hailed as a
“masterwork” (Philadelphia Inquirer), “one of the best albums of last year”
(San Jose Metro) as well as “exceptional” (Americana Roots), “beautiful”
(Ink 19), “magical” (Houston Press), “magnificent” (Rave) and “hypnotic”
(Santa Barbara News Press), and was nominated for a Juno Award and the
Polaris Prize. He spent 2009 barnstorming North America, Europe and
Australia with his band as well as solo, and recently began recording his
next release. Last month best-selling author and avid music fan Stephen King
included Eaglesmith in his “Ultimate Playlist” in Entertainment Weekly,
touting him as “country music at its best.” As The New Yorker magazine
observes, “If you’re missing Fred Eaglesmith, you’re really missing out.”
The three-day Winter Weekend in his home base of Port Dover is one of a
number of festivals and special events the artist hosts across North America
that are supported by his devoted fans. Eaglesmith is active in a number of
charitable, humane and conservation efforts both worldwide and in his local
and regional community.
Submitted by Shock Ink