Fink – Hard Believer
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First posted in a newsletter in 2025
The Calgary International Blues Festival is happening this weekend, at the Confluence/ Fort Calgary Grounds. I am heading there, with my parents, and with my kids, for at least some of it. My wife is flying out of town to avoid it altogether (mostly kidding – she has some rodeos to go to instead).
I have only been to the Blues fest once, back in 2004. It was called the Blues and Roots festival and held at McMahon Stadium that year, and included David Byrne and Cake in the lineup of performances. Both were fantastic.
I am sure this festival will be a lot different, as we are both 2 decades on from that point and in different places in our lives. I am excited to be taking my three kids with me (11, 9, and 6) for one of their first music festival experiences. When I was their age, my parents would drag my brother and I to the Edmonton and Calgary Folk Festivals. While I cannot say they had a massive effect on my musical taste, those festivals did open me up to a plethora of different genres and to an appreciation of live music in general.
Whether my own kids find the Blues Festival gives them new artists to listen to or leaves them bored and wanting to go home remains to be seen. I hope they manage to get something out of the experience, though. Time will tell!
Anyhow, since I have Blues on my mind, my chosen album for this week is from Fin Greenall, more known by his stage name Fink. He is a singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and occasional DJ from the UK. Fink makes mostly acoustic music that glides through a multitude of genres, including folk, indie, trip hop, and, of course, blues.
The album Hard Believer came out in 2014, and was my personal introduction to Fink’s blend of slightly too emotion-driven to be played in a coffeehouse style. It is softer musically than damn near all other albums I have featured, but in contrast the lyrics hit harder than most of them at the same time.
Fink’s music feature’s soft and hard strumming on acoustic guitars, and songs varying from slow, introspective laments to edge of your seat manic tracks. Hard Believer is probably the best showcase of his range, and possibly the most accessible as well. It starts with the plodding, sparse and bluesy slow build in the title track and flows confidently from one realm of style and genre to another.
Other highlights on the album include the soulful and melancholy Green and the Blue, the nervous and haunting Pilgrim, and the if U2 was an acoustic trio elegance of Looking Too Closely.
Check it out, and also check out the Calgary Blues Fest this weekend if that is your thing.
Cheers,
Evan
Oh why, oh why do they teach us Shakespeare
When you’re only 16, with no idea, what it all means
Oh Romeo, Romeo, he thinks it’s a love thing
All masks, kisses from the balcony
It’s deeper than that bro, it’s a fuckin’ tragedy, it is what it is
Bonus Viewing: Fink || FM4 SESSION (FULL) 2017