Sometimes a moment of epiphany arrives for a musician when they are on tour, in the studio or simply near a piano or guitar. In the case of Saskatchewan singer-songwriter Jeffery Straker, it was after slipping and falling while hitting an icy patch running in Regina. That fall was the seed for “Carry on with Grace,” the latest single out now from Straker’s new full-length album Great Big Sky.
“I got up quickly, felt a bit embarrassed, brushed off the snow and kept going — kind of hoping that not too many people saw me fall,” Straker says of the fall which caused no injury except bruising his dignity to some onlookers. “Part of the chorus started to write itself in my head right away, I remember thinking, ‘Isn’t this the stuff of life — we all fall down and make blunders in front of our friends and our community. But all we can do is dust ourselves off, keep going and try not to be too down on ourselves.'”
“Carry on with Grace” is a polished, pristine pedestrian-paced gem Straker nails with an equal amount of gentleness and power. Fleshed out with album producer Steve Dawson on banjo, acoustic guitar and dobro, the arrangement is highlighted by Straker’s lyrics which encourage the listener to never give up.
Some of them miles are gonna feel like you’re tryna climb uphill
But that’s just your chance to show you got what it takes
When you fall you don’t fail that’s just part of finding your way
Dust yourself off show ‘em you can carry on, carry on with grace
Another aspect which fuels the song is Straker’s piano work played on “Moira Rose,” the name given to his 1910 Heintzman upright piano he used in recording “Carry on with Grace.” “We mic’d her up in my Regina home and her lively, bright and jangly tone really fit the vibe we were aiming for,” Straker says.
The single sounds as if it fell (no pun intended) into Straker’s lap, sounding like it gelled in the studio as quickly as it did in the musician’s mind. Straker (who finished the song the same day of his fall) is especially proud of the lyric: “Life’s a two-step on a tightrope.”
“It’s really visual,” Straker says of the specific line in the first verse. “I can’t help but see it. I was trying to describe in just a few words how tricky it can be to try to get it right, to navigate everything in life while not screwing up. I felt like this captured that sentiment well.”
It’s one of the many sentiments Straker captures extremely well on Great Big Sky. The 10-track album is a gorgeous roots-folk voyage through growing up on the Canadian prairies, getting older and recalling the good (and not so good) times that life can throw your way.
“Great Big Sky is about being lost and then being found again, it’s a whisper painted on a giant canvas, and it’s gratitude for not knowing all the answers but being able to ask all the questions,” Straker says. “I’m singing about the prairie sky that I find endlessly inspiring, the rolling Touchwood Hills where I was raised, prairie grain elevators and settling bets as a kid with games of rock, paper scissors. Memories of coming out as gay play into the songwriting too. All of these things shaped me.”
Inspired by singer-songwriters such as Murray McLauchlan, Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell and falling in a vein similar to fellow Canadian songsmiths like Danny Michel and Royal Wood (who both produced Straker on previous recordings), Straker’s words at times paint pictures of days gone by. Whether it’s the tearing down of farm buildings and community hubs described in songs like the poignant “More Than Two By Fours and Timber” or revisiting childhood memories in the piano-led, waltz-tinged “Take Me to the Touchwoods,” Straker’s vignettes tug at the heartstrings.
Great Big Sky is dedicated to Glen Straker, Jeffery’s father who passed away in 2023. The silver lining in such a passing is that the musician got to play several of these songs around his father’s hospital bed in the final hours before he passed. “The last thing we did together was share music with dad,” Straker says. “We spent so many years playing music together in our house. It was wonderful and, of course, sad to say goodbye accompanied by these songs. Whenever I play them now I’m back at that moment.”
Straker wrote eight of the ten songs while co-writing the other two: “Sing Your Song” with Lynn Miles and “The Time You’ve Got” with Beverley Mahood and Mac Shepherd. The singer also had some capable musicians while recording at Dawson’s The Henhouse Studio in Nashville including Dawson, drummer Jamie Dick (Allison Russell) and multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin (Nanci Griffith). When looking for the perfect producer and studio to hone and execute his folk/roots approach to Great Big Sky, Straker zeroed in on Dawson and “recorded the tracks live off the floor.”
The end result is an album that appeals to fans old and new while enticing any folk/roots music lover who loves beautifully spun heartfelt narratives. It’s also an effort epitomizing the fact that time should be cherished. “Through the passing of both of my parents I’ve become so cognizant of time: how precious it is and the importance of using it wisely,” Straker says. “I feel lucky to have been raised by a loving mom and dad in a beautiful place. A place that reminds, inspires, lifts and grounds me.”
With his new studio album, a new single and a batch of tour dates (including a Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series around and in various Saskatchewan grain elevators), Jeffery Straker’s future looks sure-footed and steady. Expect the Regina-based musician to do it all with grace.
Great Big Sky Track List
1. Some Say It’s Just A Sky
2. Take Me to the Touchwoods
3. Carry on with Grace
4. More Than Two By Fours and Timber
5. Better Than What We Found
6. Rock Paper Scissors
7. Brand New Light
8. The Time You’ve Got
9. Sing Your Song
10. Dandelions
Jeffery Straker Tour Dates
July 4, 2024 — Concert At The Elevator — Riverhurst, SK (Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series)
July 5, 2024 — Horizon Elevator (with train travel) — Horizon, SK (Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series)
July 6, 2024 — Concert At The Elevator — Gravelbourg, SK (Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series)
July 7, 2024 — Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village — Moose Jaw, SK (Prairie Skyscraper Concert Series)
July 11, 2024 — Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival-Main Stage — Saskatoon, SK
July 13, 2024 — Craven Country Thunder-Songwriter Stage — Craven, SK
August 16, 2024 — House Concert — Markham, ON
August 17, 2024 — Concert — Kagawong, ON
September 5, 2024 — Southminister Steinhauer United Church — Edmonton, AB
September 7, 2024 — Hood Fest — Calgary, AB
September 14, 2024 — Darke Hall — Regina, SK
September 15, 2024 — Strasbourg, SK
September 21, 2024 — Little Red Wagon Winery — Shawville, QC
September 24, 2024 — Hugh’s Room — Toronto, ON
