Happy New Year folks! If you didn’t get a smooch when the clock struck midnight (or if you were fast asleep) here’s one for you
This year promises to be a good and busy one. I hope it has started off on a good note for all of you. The new album comes out soon, and as I type this I’m looking at my oh-so-long “to do” list… oh my, it is somewhat overwhelming… It’ll all be worth it! I hit the road for a Home Routes tour out West come the end of January, sneaking in some visits with dear friends along the way, then some shows in North Dakota, and finally a local Winnipeg Show!
MARK YOUR CALENDAR WINNIPEGGERS! I’ll be at the West End Cultural Centre on Friday April 13th (my new lucky day!) to celebrate the new album. This will be my first local show in many years, it would be so lovely to have you come and soak up the new tunes, eat some great food, pick up a disc and grab a few hugs.
Release touring continues in Western Canada, and then it’s off to Europe! For my Germany fans I’ll be there for 2 weeks in mid-May, and then it’s off to the UK for a solid 5 week tour, including a performance and workshop at the most fabulous Maverick Festival, and a guest spot at the Canada Day Celebrations in Trafalgar Square in London with Ladies of the Canyon! What fun it will be!
I’ll sign off for now, with a wee youtube clip of me playing one of my favourite carols (on the banjo no less!). Hope to see you at a show sometime soon!
What an amazing past few months it’s been. I spent all of September and early October overseas touring the UK. I feel like it is my second home… so many amazing fans and friends and communities of folks — people who put on concerts, drive long distances for concerts, tell their friends about concerts, feed me, drive me to and from airports, take me in for a night or 2 or 3… When I got back to Canada I battled the flu (ah those overseas flights are always a joy) and then zipped off to perform at two different showcase events (Edmonton and Parry Sound). My dear friend, teammate and photographer extraordinaire Julie Vincent joined me for both conferences and we had a blast. I then spent several weeks giving some Teaser Concerts throughout Ontario.
How cool is this? Finding my own CD in the best indie record store in the UK (Coda Music)
Some highlights from the past several months:
- driving my oh-so-lovely rental BMW (a free upgrade! what’s up with that!??!) along the west coast of Scotland with my dear friend Matt Morrow. First time in Glen Coe!
- all the gigs in Scotland… from the Bute Guitar Fest to shows with the fabulous Rob Ellen up in Strathpeffer, to Live at the Star in Glasgow, the Leith Folk Club, and the Kirkcaldy Folk Club. Most awesome!
- seeing my dear friends James and Anna Hill and having a return house concert in Coventry (thank you Jeremy and Anne!)
- meeting Miriam Jones, an awesome Canadian artist living in Oxford, and doing a show together
- re-conneting with JJ in London and the great show he put on for me!
- sharing a meal with Johnny and Anna in London (from the Whitstable Folk Club)… All we needed were some banjos!
- staying with my various UK “families” (Bruce & Nicola, Andy & Pam, Tom & Dawn, Caroline & Toby)
- doing a show at The Chapel with Andrew McCrorie-Shand on hurdy gurdy! I thought the banjo was hard to tune
The Reverend James with the Reverend James
- meeting so many great musicians in the UK and at the various showcases back home in Canada
- being asked to sing on a new album with Songs From The Blue House (love you guys!)
- driving around Lake Superior as the leaves were changing, and then after the first road closures (thank God for snow tires!)
- staying with my Toronto “family” the Weeds!
- such amazing concert hosts in Ontario… thank you all so much!
- having members from a community choir in the audience during the concert in Kingston… heavenly!
- reconnecting with all my Ontario friends and fans
- lino-cut art therarpy day with Lynne McIlvride Evans, and getting to see Grant in his element (actor extraordinaire)
- first time to St Jospeh’s Island (near the Sault)… amazing people, great coffee, and awesome maple syrup!
Valdy and the beautiful Julie
Thank you all for your support, I can’t wait til this new album is ready to go. I so want to share it with you!
I’ll sign off with attaching a video of me playing “Black Water Side” in honour of Bert Jansch. Bert sadly passed away this October. He was one of the finest guitarists around.
What a summer… I played a bunch of shows, taught an amazing songwriter’s workshop, connected with friends and family, celebrated with my dear friend Mel at her wedding (the wedding band ROCKED!), tried sailing for the first time (thank you Scott & Janet!), and squeezed in a wee bit of down time… Now I’m home [...]
It’s been quite an adventurous past few weeks. I left Winnipeg on April 10 and drove to the West Coast, then onto Alberta (with a flight out to Ontario in between), galavanting here and there, soaking up rain and sun and healing up scrapes and bruises and black eyes, singing and playing up a storm, [...]
Well, it’s been an adventurous month thus far… The shows on this Spring Teaser Tour have been amazing, the people I’ve met are incredible… lots of new friends! Maybe something rotten had to happen to balance out all the goodness, who knows. I was in Toronto last week doing some work on the new album [...]
It’s April and Winnipeg is experiencing quite the transformation. My snow-covered front lawn has suddenly turned to brown grass, the boulevard is covered with sand left over from the snow-plows, and I have a small lake in my back yard. The river rose 2 meters today and continues to rise. Local high schools put their [...]
Welcome to all of you who haven’t yet seen this brand spankin’ new website! Start by checking out the fun-formative video my friend Alex and I made about the new album (right above here)… Also check out the previous post, there were some really great folks involved in getting this new website off the ground. [...]
Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to the new Cara Luft Website! Heartfelt thanks to all the folks who helped with the site — Wade Kelly, Jeff Carter, Mike Hepher, Lynne McIlvride Evans (artwork), and the fabulous Canada Council for the Arts. I’m relieved to see 2010 behind me. It was a hard painful year [...]
It’s been quite the journey these past few months. I’ve experienced some pretty traumatic events, but I’m breathing and trucking along and am surrounded by amazing friends. And, truth be told, out of tragedy comes great beauty. Songs are flowing right alongside the tears, my guitar and banjo are giving me great comfort. The best [...]
Spring is coming! I’m spending a bit of time in my hometown of Calgary, and the sun here is amazing… The other day it was +13 and I just wanted to lay on a park bench for hours. Beautiful. Here is a classic February image, from Wilcox, SK. I’m taking some much-needed downtime, before getting [...]
