Photo From www.jeffstraker.com

By Chris Brown

Jeffery Straker’s music connects in Medicine Hat and across the pond

Sep 26, 2023 | 12:18 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – It turns out that the stories of the Prairies can find a home almost anywhere.

Much to Jeffery Straker’s delight that includes England as he learned last fall during a run of shows across the pond.

“It went over like a house on fire and partly it’s because at the core of it if you’re singing about a small town, or you’re singing about the Prairies, you’re singing about place, you’re singing about where you’re from, you’re singing about leaving it, you’re singing about community,” he says.

“I have a song called One Foot on Main Street. It’s an ode to small towns and people really get it. It’s quite fascinating. There is some magic or some truth in this little nugget that people say it’s like the universal is in the specific. If you sing about something super specific in a way, or write about it, universality can be drawn from that and I find that I give my audience the benefit of the doubt that they’re smart enough that they can do that.”

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Straker has built a loyal fanbase in Medicine Hat over the years at small shows in intimate venues. This week he’s on the big Esplanade stage but is keeping the vibe the same.

The Saskatchewan singer-songwriter performs Thursday in the Esplanade’s On-Stage Series where the audience will take seats on stage mere feet away from Straker.

He says it’s an ideal setup to create moments between himself and the audience, adding that the sort of thing that fills his tank.

“I think the job of the musician or the singer-songwriter or the entertainer or whatever who’s on stage, it’s to create intimacy to enable that feeling it’s just that listener and you in that moment,” he says.

His shows in England aren’t the only touch point to that country.

He recently was asked to compose a song to mark the coronation of King Charles III. Writing a song to mark the start of his reign was a tall task, so he wished the new monarch well and threw out a challenge with Better Than We Found.

“It’s about how his duty but at the same time our duty throughout our life and the big picture is to leave this place better than we found it,” he explains. “Society is doomed if we don’t all have that in our head somewhere.”

It’s a strong possibility the song will be on Straker’s upcoming album to be released in the spring.

Straker takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday night. Tickets are still available at tixx.ca.