L.A. Beat

Saskatoon born folk musician Zachary Lucky is feeling, well, lucky. In the three years since releasing his last cd “ the Ballad of Losing You,” Lucky got married , had a daughter and moved to the Toronto area to be  closer to his in-laws.
 His brand new CD “ Everywhere a Man Can Be,” released just a week ago reflects this period of transition.

 Lucky, who frequently plays Southern Alberta, brings his band to the Twin Butte store on Oct. 21 and the Owl Acoustic Lounge for their Monday night open mic, Oct. 24.
“I love Southern Alberta, The Twin Butte Store, Lethbridge, Calgary. There are some cool places,” said Lucky from a rest stop along Highway 17 in northern Ontario, where he and bandmates bassist Mitch Thomson, keyboardist Dan Edmonds, pedal steel guitarist Kevin Neal and drummer Will Fisher are on their way to Winnipeg to begin the tour in support of the album.
“I’ve played Lethbridge a lot. I can’t wait to bring these songs and show this band on this tour,” he enthused.

He noted Edmonds’ keyboards are a big part of the new CD’s sound. Edmonds is the only band member who plays on the CD. Lucky has toured with  Mitch Thomson, who accompanied him at his last Lethbridge show at the Farm back in March.
He is pleased with the new CD, noting it marks a period of transition in his life.

“It reflects on the last part of my life. It looks back at  at a lot.  A lot has happened since then. I had my daughter, moved to outside of Toronto and there has been a lot of life lived- a lot of experiences,” he said.
“I wanted this CD to represent a really fresh  new start,” he said .
“ Living in the Toronto area is definitely  feel than Saskatchewan. But Saskatoon  is still a huge part of me. the Toronto area is just where I park my car,” he continued.
 The nine track CD also marks an expansion sonically.

“I went to producer Aaron Goldstein with   12 or 13 songs and we went through them together. We had an intense January.  Aaron put together a great band of Toronto musicians to play on the CD. We were doing 10 hour days each. We took 10 days to record them and spent two weeks mixing them. It was done by the end of January.  It was a different experience for me but very positive for me, because I’ve usually done home studios,” he said.

“ I’m elated by the sound. It very much reflects my  style of traditional country and folk music,” he said.

 

 He noted the new music seems to be getting a good response from fans.
“It’s been featured on iTunes and we’re selling units. And people are listening and I hope more people will listen to it. But it is really difficult to tell the response. It’s a different world now. Even for people at the top of the industry it’s an uphill battle,” he observed.

 He is excited about the tour.
“ It’s with a five piece band, so it will be the closest thing to the record that you will hear,” he said.
“I couldn’t be more happy with the album and this band. You will be hearing the CD and some older material— the Zachary Lucky classics as it were,” he said.
Zachary Lucky and his band play the Twin Butte Store, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. there will be a cover for that show.
 Lucky plays the Owl Acoustic lounge, Oct. 24 at 9 p.m. There is no cover for that show.