Reprinted from the Seattle Weekly 03.17.05

No doubt Ferron has the ability to pull from the depths of the human soul and through the core of the heart to create music which is quintessential poetry. Her artful crafting of lyrics is second to none.

This brilliant Canadian singer/songwriter had her beginnings as one of seven children of a working class family in the outskirts of Vancouver, B.C. After leaving home at the age of 15, her search to understand the human spirit led her along many paths: cab driving, waiting tables, working in coffee factories and fish canneries. She draws on those experiences in soaring songs and her autobiographical lyrics strike a universal chord.

Ferron's body of work reflects the introspective, searching nature of someone who has lived with depth and intention. Of her own work she says, "I feel this responsibility to say something and have it be true for me. The fit to me is finding that my work somehow resonates on a deep level with other people and they find that it is also true for them."

With flawless precision, Ferron nails it on the head every time. Her lyrics are incisive and insightful. If you are human, you have experienced love, loneliness, questioning, kindness and loss. Ferron translates the essence of these feelings into her songs, and conveys a reverence for the most basic of human emotions.

With 11 recordings to her credit over the past 27 years, Ferron has danced in and out of view, but always reappears to find an ever-faithful following of fans. With her first two albums recorded in 1977 and 1978 respectively, her next recordings, Testimony (1980) and Shadows on a Dime (1984) catapulted her into the spotlight.

But it was six more years before she released Phantom Center followed by a live recording, In a Still Life, and her only instrumental recording, Resting With the Question (both in 1992). In 1994, Driver made it to second place on The New York Times' top 10 albums list.

Like other unique and stellar musicians, her deal with a major label (1995 to 1997) didn't last. You can't dilute this woman. And lucky for us, she remained true to herself and struck back out on her own once again. In 1999, she released a light, fun album of cover tunes, Inside Out: The IMA Sessions, followed in 2000 by the retrospective Impressionistic. In March, she'll release her newest album, Songs From A Goat Path, on her own label Fair and Loving Music.

Ferron helps us perfect the art of listening, forcing us to stop in our tracks and take heed of that inner voice. She encourages us to shout an emphatic "Yes!" to life in all its raw, gritty pain and joy and sorrow and exuberance. Her image-filled lyrics will stretch and expand the confines of your heart. Guaranteed.