Rick Fielding on Rick Fielding

In Rick's own words:

"I can't describe the feeling that came over me the first time I heard a recording of Leadbelly. Compared to what I was listening to on the radio -- Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, even Elvis -- it was so passionate, with every song painting a picture. I set out to try and understand where his music came from and to play it with the respect it deserved. It was the same with Appalachian old-time country music, Irish dance tunes, the Child ballads of England and Scotland, the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt and the topical songs of the Quebec chansoniers. When I first heard the music of the Weavers and Pete Seeger, and realized that an issue-oriented song could change the course of history, I made my first attempts at songwriting. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, when someone asks "What kind of music do you play?" they want a simple answer and I'm not able to give them that."

"After being on the road for more than 20 years playing every conceivable (and inconceivable) venue, I think I was quickly approaching burn-out. In order to be more selective about where I played, I had to find another source of income to supplement what I earned from music. So today I do custom leatherwork, some teaching, and freelance writing and illustration. It's allowed to me to focus on my love of folk music and hopefully to continue playing festivals and clubs where I feel I have something to contribute."

In Rick's own words:

I'm an improviser. I doubt if I could do the same song twice in a row without changing the chord pattern, instrumental fills and sometimes even the melody! I often decide what songs I'm going to sing at a given time only after getting a feel for who the audience is. It's the same with stories, song backgrounds and even which instruments I use to accompany them. This has always given me the kind of freedom to make every program different, and hopefully interesting and fun, for both me and the audience.

Anyone who has been part of one of my concerts over the years has probably heard old ballads, banjo tunes, 'pickin' songs on the guitar, autoharp, and mandolin, a political satire or two and some new stuff that either I or some of my friends have written. Oh, and they've probably done some singing on the choruses and learned a bit about the origins of a song or two. They are sure to get some stories and adventures from 'the road' as well.

A Brief History of the Acoustic Workshop by Rick Fielding

In 1989 I was invited to do an interview and sing some songs on CIUT's Monday Midnight Folk Show hosted by Jim Rider. After the show Jim told me he was going out of town for a couple of weeks to do some gigs and asked me if I would host the show while he was gone. It sounded like fun, and to make a long story short, Jim never came back to Toronto except for the odd visit. For the first few months I'm not even sure if CIUT's management was aware that the show had a new host. After all, there were never too many folks around the station at midnight on a Monday, often just the host, engineer, and an on-air guest. The CIUT building is an old white house on St. George Street and those late night shows had a wonderful "lonesome intimacy" to them. I was told by several people to keep an eye open for the "station ghost", but if the restless spirit ever checked out the "Folk Show" it wasn't long enough for me to notice. Perhaps spectres prefer hipper music.

I changed the name of the program to "Acoustic Workshop" because I wanted to treat each hour like a workshop at a festival, not just one song after another with some reading from liner notes in between. One of the greatest joys in my life has been learning not just the "what", but the how, when, and why, of acoustic music and I wanted to share this with the listeners. Over the years I've interviewed and jammed with hundreds of guests, had some positively strange nights and a great many wonderful memories. Were I to write a book about my journey through the world of folk music (which is a distinct possibility) the adventures I've had while hosting the radio show would be a substantial part of it.

Currently the show runs from 7-8 p.m., still on Monday night on CIUT 89.5 FM, and my wife Heather, known on air as my "teenage Scottish bride" for several years, now helps out in virtually every area of the show.

In Rick's words

"About ten years ago I was walking through a flea market in the east end of Toronto when I came across a stall selling handcarved leather accessories, things like belts, knife sheaths, bags and wallets. In the back of my mind I'd always thought it would be great to have a guitar case carved in leather with my own special design on it. I struck up a conversation with the vendor, the first of many as it happens, and asked him about his work and how much it would cost to make me a case? "About a thousand dollars" he replied. Well, I was clearly taken aback by this and it must have shown because he then said "I could show you how to make one for about fifty bucks". This got my attention, and next thing I knew I'd signed up for Bruce White's classes in leather carving."

"For some reason, maybe because leather carving has been more of a country based folkart, many of the pieces I saw in "Leather Crafter" and at my local supplies store featured leaping trout and rampant moose, but these aren't prime interests of mine. Most of my clients order music-related carved items, such as instrument straps etc. I also enjoy doing strictly decorative work such as the 18th century apprentice, taking a break with his fiddle (hope he didn't quit his day job!)"