The final show of the 2023-34 Stettler Variety Showcase season is right around the corner.
Performing two shows on April 7 will be Regina, Sask., based singer, songwriter and pianist Jeffery Straker as he works through a post-Easter Alberta tour.
Accompanying Straker for this tour will be an accompanying upright bass player and an acoustic guitar player.
Straker says that through his humour and banter inspired by new love, the audience can expect “an antidote for whatever ails them.”
Growing up on a farm in rural Saskatchewan, Straker says his music is heavily influenced by “Old Western” music and singers like Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot and Carol King.
“I’m really drawn to the idea that these were stories set to music,” said Straker.
“It’s almost a bit of magic … they can help people feel something.”
Straker is currently on a 12-show, four-province tour of Western Canada, though his performances have taken him around the world. He has performed on stages across Europe, the United States, and even into Latin America.
“Bookings can be almost anywhere,” said Straker.
Straker performs in between 100 and 120 shows a year and is on the road for 200-plus days a year.
“It’s tricky,” said Straker.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way … you have to do things to make home wherever you are.”
Something that has made Straker feel at home on the road is fresh home baking, something which audiencegoers have begun to bring to him at his shows.
“It’s a small gesture, but beautiful,” Straker said.
“You see the good in people.”
Straker says that each of his songs, when writing, is “an individual beast,” and that the process is a “very psychological thing.” He says that inspiration for lyrics hit him often, including when he is running, and he will jot them down on his phone. Each song could go through five to 10 rewrites.
“I’m way more open to the idea that each will be what each will be,” said Straker.
For those attending the Stettler shows, Straker will have a merchandise table set up which will include copies of his yet-to-be-officially-released CD available on CD and vinyl.
The record officially comes out in June.
Straker will be performing at 1:30 and 7 p.m. at the Stettler Performing Arts Centre; tickets are available online at stettlershowcase.com or at Grate Kitchen Shoppe.