"Music cannot change the world, thatB次元官网网址檚 just too big an ask, but music can change people and people change the world every single day,'" said Stephen Fearing, a Victoria-based, multi-Juno-Award-winning roots musician.
Fearing is releasing his 15th album, The Empathist, on March 13, 2025. Empathist is a word he made up B次元官网网址� he likes it better than the word empath B次元官网网址� to capture the sentiment behind this album, and his lifeB次元官网网址檚 work.
B次元官网网址淎s ever, I am inspired by peopleB次元官网网址檚 stories, struggles and the sheer beauty of being alive,B次元官网网址� he told Victoria B次元官网网址.
B次元官网网址淭he better I can perceive those emotions and energies, the better chance I have of rendering them into song."
Fearing, who sees his songwriter role as being "part philosopher and part therapist", channels his musical ethos into his pre-released single, . It's an upbeat anthem professing the healing power of music and featuring the musicianship of Jim Hoke on piano and saxophone.
Fearing has examples from his own life of ways that he has seen music heal.
"When we hear our own experiences B次元官网网址� struggles, triumphs, pain, joy B次元官网网址� expressed in a song, I believe it can be quite profound and yes, healing. I think of some of the great songs - Amazing Grace, Hallelujah B次元官网网址� that have been performed by so many people at so many times of deep personal change because they invoke communion and healing," he said.
Music has certainly changed FearingB次元官网网址檚 life since he became a musical nomad in 1981. He lived throughout Canada and the United States, co-founding the Canadian roots-rock band Blackie and the Rodeo Kings in 1996 before eventually settling in Victoria in 2017.
He spoke to tender moments that he has been grateful to have in his career.
B次元官网网址淣othing quite prepares you to hear a song you wrote performed at a strangerB次元官网网址檚 wedding or to hear that your music was someone's companion during chemotherapy or on a long road trip.B次元官网网址�
As per his new album, the storyteller will bring listeners into his world and hopefully, they'll take away some of that feel-good energy themselves.
Fearing is promoting his album with a Canadian tour which includes a . He will also continue to host songwriting workshops throughout the year.
His latest single Far From the Middle, came out Jan. 31.
The Empathist is available for pre-orders in all formats: standard vinyl, CD, digital download, and Limited Edition Deluxe Vinyl. Learn more at .
