#777Transporting himself back to the 70's, the decade in which he cut his teeth as a musician, Jim offers up RPM; an "album" made in the true spirit of the time. The album traces the life of a fictitious character, Mickey Finn, who has the boyhood dream of fame and fortune, achieves his dream, and finally wakes from the nightmare to realize that music is more important than the hits, life is more important than the music biz and he is more important than his commercial image. It's one of those twist one up, turn it up and go on a journey recordings that sadly aren't much made anymore.
Jim's latest creation, RPM, was launched on November 7th at Spirit of Newfoundland Productions in downtown St. John's. A great night was had by all.
Special thanks to the following people for helping make it all happen!
Mike Meekins
Vince Davoli
Rod Priddle
Ann Downton
Harry & Pat Stone
Susan and Chris Flanagan
Scott Newbury
Kathie Hicks, Angela Record and the staff of Spirit of Newfoundland Productions
Mike Hanrahan
Derek Harrington
Gordon Quinton
Mike Fisher
Kevin Pinhorn
CBC
Tony Burke, The Print Shop
Arlene Churchill
Sylvia Thomas and Raymond Reiser
All of the Indiegogo Campaign contributors!
A born musician, singer/composer/multi-instrumentalist, Jim Fidler lives on the north atlantic island of Newfoundland. In his childhood he studied classical piano and music theory at the Maritime Conservatory of Music In Halifax, Nova Scotia as an honours student and his been involved in various musical projects since playing and producing everything from bluegrass to reggae; but, his main passion has always been Newfoundland and Labrador; her people and her culture.
Jim's live performances span 30 years. His first highly successful bluegrass group was formed in Halifax when he was in his teens. In the late eighties he formed Newfoundland's first reggae group, Pressure Drop, in which he was the lead singer, drummer and writer. The group was a popular dance band and produced a large following in St. John's. They also went on to tour extensively and make appearances on Toronto's Much Music and Ear to the Ground.
In 1995 Jim produced his first solo CD, Gypsy, which started him on that path of a solo career. Gypsy was completely self-written, self-produced on which Jim sang and played twelve different instruments. The album won awards for Album of the Year and Independent Album of the Year in Newfoundland And Labrador, a nomination for an East Coast Music award in the category "roots/traditional", and CBC Radio's national program Roots and Wings selected GYPSY as one of the top 25 albums from around the world in the fall of 1996. In 1997 after hearing the album, Iona Records President, Ronnie Simpson signed Jim to a European record deal, the first for a solo Newfoundland artist.
Mark Vaughan Jackson of the Evening Telegram write about the album: There is no musical genre or label that fits this album. There are influences from Newfoundland, Jamaica, North Africa, Portugal and Spain, Ireland, the Gypsy tradition, folk and others. But they are not just Fidler's versions of these musical styles - he has taken them, interpreted them and then used some of their influences to flavour music that seemingly comes straight from his soul.
After hearing Jims music, the producers of Needfire, a Toronto Mervish Production, immediately wanted Jim and his music in their production. He was featured as one of the star performers in the highly successful maiden run at Toronto's Princess of Wales theatre in the summer of 1998. In the shows second advent at the Royal Alexandra theatre in Toronto in the winter of 2000, Jim is even more prominently featured.
Jim released his second solo album Friendly Fire in November of 2000. This album again is completely written and produced by Fidler and features Mary Jane Lamond and other members of the Needfire Cast.
...And throughout it all, Fidler is there performing on his usual multitude of instruments and welcoming guest musicians to add Gaelic words, Arabic chants, smooth sax lines, skirling pipes and more. This is a more eclectic recording than Gypsy, which had a tad more of the acoustic traditional sound in its pedigree. With Friendly Fire we have a broader electronic soundscape, club-style drum effects and the judicious application of distortion effects to add a few pleasantly jagged edges. Mark Vaughan Jackson - The Evening Telegram
From 2002 through 2003, Jim brought together some of Newfoundland's finest musicians including Irish Descendents Graham Wells and Mike Hanrahan, jazz guitarist Mark Belbin, blues master Scott Goudie and two friends from the french island of St. Pierre and Morocco. The St. Pierre musician, Thierry Artur, a jazz horn player and the Moroccan, Lekbir Halili, a traditional Arabic singer/percussionist.
This project, "MUSAIK, IN THIS WORLD", is a call for world peace and blends styles as diverse as North African Raai, Reggae and Celtic music. The album is also linguistically diverse, being about half and half in English and Arabic, with some French thrown in for good measure. Jim's hope for this CD is to reach a broad range of people and to encourage not only tolerance, but mutual, cross-cultural respect. It was recorded and mixed entirely at Jim's studio, The Roots Cellar, in St. John's, Newfoundland. The album was nominated for an ECMA in 2004 for urban recording of the year.
In June of 2005, Jim released his fourth recording, Midnight Rover, a rich and sometimes playful journey inspired by two recent trips to Ireland since autumn of 2004.
Kevin Kelly, the Newfoundland Herald wriote: It's been 10 years since local singer/songwriter JIM FIDLER released his highly-acclaimed album, Gypsy. Now Fidler has recently released his latest CD, Midnight Rover. The new album is filled with Fidler's trademark Celtic sound as well as soothing instrumentals. However, there are some pop influences as well. Included on the album are covers of Roxy Music's '80s classic Avalon and Sting's romantic Fields of Gold, both almost as good as the originals. Fidler recently organized the first-ever Atlantic Crossroads Festival, a musical extravaganza that showcased the best of Irish and Newfoundland singers at various local clubs. Fidler is also involved with a new podcast radio program entitled Republic of Avalon Radio, which showcases local music. You can hear the program by visiting
http://www.republicofavalonradio.com.
In 2009, Jim returned to his reggae roots with the release of the album 'Revolution Time'; Karla Hayward of the Telegram wrote this about the album: Jim Fidler has a lot to say. And listening is a real pleasure. From global warming to the psychological effects of television, Fidler’s got a firm stance well supported by real information, expressed succinctly and with enough humour to keep things interesting. So, obviously a new solo album is the perfect way for this talented musician to “get the message out,” as it were. “Revolution Time” is the Fidler’s latest creation and it’s definitely a return to his reggae roots. While the influences heard in each song vary from jazz to calypso, there’s a solid thematic thread that holds all together in perfect concert.
Up That River, Jim's latest recording, was released in 2011. In true Fidler style, this album is an eclectic mix, with many influences including pop, blues, reggae, celtic, americana, folk, ballad and probably lots more.
Jim is currently in the studio producing his new album entitled 'The Final Curtain Call' which will be released in the Fall of 2013.
http://jimfidler.com/index.php/en/
