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  • Freight Train - Fred Eaglesmith

    Charles de Lint posted on May 05, 2012 08:38

    Download the Lyrics and Chords

    YOU CAN PLAY ALONG WITH THE VIDEO! I have not doubt there will be train whistles!

    Frederick John Elgersma (born July 9, 1957), known by the stage name Fred Eaglesmith, is a Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter. He is known for writing songs about vehicles, rural life, down-and-out characters, lost love and quirky rural folk. His songwriting uses techniques of short story writing, including unreliable narrators, surprise endings, and plot twists. In 2016, Eaglesmith tours extensively with his band. Eaglesmith, one of nine children, was raised by a farming family near Guelph in rural Southern Ontario. He began playing the guitar at age 12. As a teenager Eaglesmith hopped a freight train to Western Canada and began writing songs and performing.

    Eaglesmith founded a band known as the Smokin' Losers. He later formed a group called known as both the Flying Squirrels and the Flathead Noodlers, switching the name to represent different styles of music. The Flathead Noodlers play bluegrass, while the Flying Squirrels play more folk and rock. His first self-titled album was released in 1980.

    A typical Fred Eaglesmith show includes his music set between several lengthy between-song comic monologues by Eaglesmith. Topics in the past have included stories about crossing the U.S.–Canada border, Newfoundlanders, and some friends from an Indian reserve. His fans are known as "Fredheads", a nod to deadheads, who followed the Grateful Dead. He is known to tour extensively throughout Canada and the U.S. When Eaglesmith appears in solo performances, he bills himself as Fred J. Eaglesmith. In addition to his own albums, he frequently collaborated with the late Willie P. Bennett, a former member of Eaglesmith's band, who stepped down after a heart attack in early 2007. Eaglesmith publishes his own records. In 2010, Eaglesmith was featured on the Late Show with David Letterman as the musical guest. Since 2012, performances have been billed as the Fred Eaglesmith Travelling Steam Show and include opening songs performed by Bill Poss, the Ginn Sisters, and his wife Tif Ginn.

    ****WORD/PDF REVISED/REFORMATTED April 25, 2017 - SR****

    ~~~ChordPro Version UPDATED May 05, 2017 CEL~~~

    A video for this song:




    Posted in: Individual Songs, May 2012 - Train songs., June 2017 - Canadiana (1 Comments)

Comments

Sue Rogers
# Sue Rogers
Friday, May 11, 2012 5:54 PM
I've posted a version in [Am] so that you can play along with the video. At BUG night, we'll play the version in [Gm] - we'll show you an easy way to move from Gm to Eb (hint: you can leave the 4th string open)

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