Just Us Folk

As a son of Saskatchewan, raised on a grain farm, Jeffery Straker’s first job as a teenager was to clean out the dust collector of a grain elevator. So when he was looking for a unique venue for the release of Great Big Sky, the first thing that came to mind was a grain elevator. Once the “official” album release concerts were held in Regina and Toronto, Jeffery started looking for a real “prairie way” to mark the occasion.

“Many of the songs had prairie themes, so I thought, ‘What about concerts in grain elevators?’ It was a total experiment.”

The first challenge Jeffery faced was actually finding a grain elevator to use. Even though it’s a picture postcard image of Saskatchewan, they’re becoming a rarer sight on the prairie landscape, dwindling from 3,000 in the 1950’s, to less than 175 today. Once he found out where they were, Jeffery faced the next challenge.

“Who do you phone to get into them?”

Once those obstacles were overcome, an initial tour of seven locations was finalized, including one concert in a still-functioning elevator, with an additional pair of concerts added later.

“It was much like a house concert but in the elevator or on the driveway of the elevator.”

With concert goers bringing their own lawn chairs, the capacity of the elevators was about seventy-five people. Using decorative lighting, an inviting ambience was created for each concert. Jeffery has posted videos of some of his elevator concerts on his YouTube channel.

“The acoustics were wonderful since the high ceilings and uneven walls made for a perfect acoustic situation,” he said.

There’s already at least half a dozen more grain elevator shows booked for this year.

It also made for a very emotional experience for Jeffery, given a number of the songs on Great Big Sky deal with growing up in Saskatchewan.

“And I could tell it was connecting with the audience too,” he said. “People really enjoyed the concerts and they sold really well.”

While it may not be obvious, many of the songs on the new album are inspired by Jeffery’s parents who both passed away in the last five years.

“All of this bubbled up in a funny way,” he said. “It’s not a sad album but more grateful. I think that’s where I landed in my grief."

The album has more of an Americana tone to it, partly from working with producer Steve Dawson.

“That seemed to be the sound that would help tell these musical stories the best,” he said.

How Jeffery came to pick Steve as a producer is actually quite interesting. After listening to a lot of albums in search of a sound that appealed to him, Jeffery narrowed them down to three that he really liked.

“And low and behold, Steve had produced all of them!” he said.

Adding to the emotional aspect of Great Big Sky is the fact Jeffery’s father was able to hear the mixes of the songs before he passed away.

“Mom and Dad were such big fans,” he said.

“They came to all the shows. The last thing Dad did literally before his last breath was listening to the mixes. So every time I sing them, I’m transported to the story of the song but also to being at Dad’s bedside playing him these songs.”

One of the songs, “Better Than What We Found,” was commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan to help the province celebrate King Charles III’s coronation. The song was hand delivered to the monarch who then sent word to Jeffery that he was “touched” by the song. The King also sent along best wishes for Jeffery’s UK tour which is where Jeffery was when he received the message.

2024 ended on a high note with Jeffery being nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Singer of the Year.

This year has already seen him at the Your Roots Are Showing conference in Ireland and with some dates in western Canada before heading to the Folk Alliance conference in Montreal.

If there’s one thing Jeffery has learned in the past year, it’s the benefits of thinking outside the box.

“There’s an appetite for listening to music in an unorthodox space,” he said. “When I did my album release concerts in Regina and Toronto, we had nice audiences. But if I added up all the places where I had concerts at elevators, there’s way more people than my average album release. Music in elevators! Who knew?”

For more on Jeffery Straker and Great Big Sky, go to https://www.jeffstraker.com.