David Francey fancies himself an introvert.
But sometimes it’s the quiet ones who are paying the most attention.
On Empty Train, his latest album, the 61-year-old three-time Juno Award-winning folk musician says he changed his songwriting tactics, taking a more observational view of the world surrounding him.
“It was very freeing,” the Scottish-born Francey said. “The (last) one was a pretty heavy effort on my part”
In the midst of a coast-to-coast tour that will bring him to Thunder Bay for an 8 p.m. show at the Port Arthur Polish Hall on March 12, Francey said the new music, just released late last month on the international market, has been well received by fans on the tour, which began Feb. 25 in Toronto and will take him across the country and across the pond, with several dates later this year in the United Kingdom.
He’s especially proud of a couple of tracks on the new album.
Blue Girls stands out and has resonated with crowds, he said. It details the life of a young woman involved in the pornography trade.
“It’s basically a description of a wonderful film by the National Film Board called Give Me Your Soul,” said Francey, who moved to Canada when he was 12, adding he sat on the song for quite some time before deciding to release it.
The lyrics are haunting.
And the philistine says,
In his satisfied way,
This one’s good meat for the grind
And he dreams up a scene
Lurid and mean
And he hangs on her tight for the ride.
Another favourite of Francey and his audience is Fool, about a man who’s been “dragged around by my heart again.”
“It seems to go over really well,” he said. “Hopefully people don’t see themselves in it. I do. I’m in the crosshairs.”
Other songs on the playlist include Mirror Ball, about the faceless patrons of a Yukon bar and the working-class heroes of Crucible.
Francey, a carpenter-turned-singer, has been called one of Canada’s most “revered poets and singers,” by no less than the Toronto Star and the “closest thing Canada has to Woody Guthrie” by the Georgia Strait.
Empty Train is his 10th studio album, but by no means did he do it alone. Guitarist Mark Westbert, banjoist Chris Coole and jack-of-all-music-trades Darren McMullen not only play on the record as the Handsome Soldiers, but also helped produce it as well.
Hitting the road together makes it all worthwhile, he said.
“I travel in a bus with my three best friends in the world and my music,” he said. “What more could I ask for?”
Tickets, which have sold out at other venues, are available by emailing [email protected] or by phoning 344-0645.
