Zen and the Art of Life on the Road: An Interview with Fred
Eaglesmith  FJE: I've done this all my life. I had a friend who
grew flowers in the late '80s. I needed a job. So I took a truck
and took these flowers to town and started selling them. And
then I just went crazy. I became the best of the best. Florists
said, "Ask that guy, he knows everything." I'll do it with
anything in the world. If I have an interest in it, I'll buy
every book until I know it, know it...and then I'll put it on
the shelf with the other things.  JP: Your last record,
Tinderbox, had yet again a distinctly different vibe. Are you
surprised by how people reacted to it?  FJE: No, it's the same
thing. If I get into it, I'm dead meat. I can't stop until it's
done. People say that all the time; that it's a departure from
what I've done. They say it about every record. I've got letters
about almost every record I've put out telling about how awful
it is. And then an apology letter four months later. Now I don't
really care.  JP: Is that b