JERRY LEGER
UK TOUR IN APRIL
LUCKY STREAK – LATENT LOUNGE, LIVE FROM THE HANGAR
Out March 21 2025 and Produced by Michael Timmins
Listen to first single “Out There Like The Rain”:
“…from the top drawer.” – Uncut Magazine
“Leger has that spark in him that all the great songwriters have. He’s the real deal.” – Ron Sexsmith
Acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter Jerry Leger makes a welcome return to the UK in April for solo, acoustic shows, to coincide with the release of his new solo album Lucky Streak – Latent Lounge, Live From The Hangar on March 21.
Leger, who has built a growing fanbase this side of the pond for his perfectly judged and hugely entertaining live performances, will play the following UK dates in April:
April 6 Ramblin’ Roots Revue, High Wycombe
April 8 Green Note, London
April 9 St. Lawrence’s Church, Stoke-On-Trent
April 10 Swiss Cottage, Winchester
April 11 Bear Club, Luton
April 12 St Werburgh’s, Chester
April 13 Partickhill Bowling & Community Club, Glasgow
April 15 The Central Bar, Gateshead
April 16 Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
April 17 Running Horse, Nottingham
April 18 Nomad, Liverpool
April 19 Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds
April 22 Kingsmead House Concerts, High Wycombe
The shows will be part of a European stint which also takes in Germany and The Netherlands.
The recording of Lucky Streak – Latent Lounge, Live From The Hangar in Leger’s own words:
The morning after I played my last show of 2024, I met up with Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) at his studio, The Hangar in Toronto. Since late 2013, we have recorded a lot of music in this room together, all of which has been released on their label, Latent Recordings. The idea was to pick a bunch of my songs from the past and present and I’d perform them solo, either the way they were written or the way they’ve evolved. The result is Lucky Streak – Latent Lounge, Live From The Hangar and you know, I feel lucky.
Fittingly the opening song was the title track from my first Latent release, Early Riser (2014). I originally wrote this on piano, but now I prefer playing it on guitar. I also do it in a different key with a capo technique I learned watching Steve Earle. Recently I was fortunate to open some shows for Steve, and talked to him about the capo trick. He said he got it from Guy Clark, which I thought was pretty cool. At the time of writing this tune, I was an “early riser”, working a day job at a hardware store.
“Angella”, which closes the album, is the first professional recording of a song I wrote when I was about fifteen-years old. I think it was the first “good” song I came up with. A coming of age story written by someone coming of age. Through the years, the melody and opening words would occasionally come back to me, “she walks away with her breath held in, to keep to herself / while a violin plays her voice so well in the night.”
In between the bookends of Lucky Streak are other songs that I especially love playing solo, including three from my most recent studio album Donlands (2023). Getting its name sake from the street and theatre where it was recorded, Donlands was produced by Mark Howard (known for his work with Lucinda Williams, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, among others). The album was graced with the beautiful atmosphere that Mark is known to create. I thought it would be nice to present a few of those songs here in their natural state, as they were written. It’s a different kind of beauty.
I loved revisiting “On Your Own” from my sophomore album, Farewell Ghost Town (2006). I hope the intimate vocal/piano version on Lucky Streak will give this song a rediscovery. We made that album fueled by Guinness and with the intent of documenting as opposed to constructing a record. I still like making records with a certain amount of immediacy, but I always felt I could have sung that particular song better. I would start to find my voice on the following record, You, Me & The Horse (2008). That record contains what I think is one of my best compositions, “Drive Away Tonight”.
I’ve heard Ron Sexsmith call me a “survivor of the music industry”, but I also think about a 1972 interview with Leonard Cohen. Reflecting on his career up to that point, Cohen described success as “survival”. My aim from the get-go was always to be artistically successful, which I feel I have been. Michael Timmins’ support certainly helped me survive and I think of Lucky Streak as a celebration.
Photo credit: Katie Methot