Many musical performers proudly wear the label of singer-songwriter, but skilled Calgary acoustic guitarist Steve Fisher is not one of them.
Fisher, along with Cedric Blary on clarinet and Eric Smistad on upright bass, will play a show Saturday night at Coyote Moon in Turner Valley.
Fisher said he and his two accompanists are content to delve in the musical catalogs of others artists to find songs to perform.
“All three of us have similar backgrounds in we have learned a lot of what I would call traditional music; whether it be jazz, bluegrass or blues,” he said. “The singer-songwriter world is very well populated and that’s a good thing. But the three of us are in different tribe. What we’re bringing to people are ways of making music and interpreting songs that allows them to have a sort of classic feel to them.”
A master of free finger style and flat-picking guitar playing, Fisher said for himself, Blary and Smistad it’s more about the level of their performance than playing songs that deliver a personal message.
“With the three of us and the other people we play with, the degree of musicianship is really quite high,” Fisher said. “The music we’re playing really rests on that. It rests on our understanding of these older forms and how to play them, how to sing them and how to put them over with an audience.”
Fisher said the upcoming Turner Valley show will feature a varied set list. He anticipated playing songs best described as folk music as well as some blues numbers and even a little bluegrass.
Originally from a small southern Ontario town Fisher has lived in southern Alberta for more than three decades where he has been a part of several musical acts. He currently divides his time performing with the bluegrass band Restless Lester, as one half of a duo with Longview guitarist Jim McLennan and with his own Steve Fisher Group, which also features both Blary and Smistad.
Fisher explained the music he chooses to play is never confined to one style or genre.
“It’s sort of directed by the artists I like,” he said. “There are a number of different artists I have grown up enjoying musically. They happen to play different styles of music even within the scope of their own work. Someone like Doc Walker for instance, a famous American guitar player, is very hard to pigeonhole. He plays blues, bluegrass and pop music of an older variety.”
Another major influence Fisher cited is slide guitar legend Ry Cooder. A multiple Grammy award winner, he has ventured everywhere in his work from straight up blues to Tex-Mex and Hawaiian music.
Fisher said he respects performers like Walker and Cooder who remain moving targets musically.
“They’re the models I have kind of chosen for myself,” Fisher explained. “I have played a lot of bluegrass for the last 20 years. I’ve toured all over Western Canada and into the United States, but all the while I’ve enjoyed playing finger style guitar in blues, ragtime and things like that.”
Fisher’s well-rounded repertoire will be on display Saturday night, May 7 at 6 p.m. at Cowboy Moon Cantina and Espresso Bar, Main Street in Turner Valley. A special pre-show menu will be available. For more information and tickets call 403-933-3363.
