The new album “Darlingford” is officially coming out in June in Canada and Europe!  CDs are already available for purchase at all of Cara’s upcoming  live shows, and for those who prefer the digital version, you can purchase a copy via BandCamp right here, right now!

Album Launch Party for Winnipeg!

Socks after my own heart in Victoria, BC

Wow, what a wonderfully exhausting past 3 months it has been. I found myself driving more than I have in quite some time, playing for brand new audiences, finally dipping down into the States for some shows after a long absence, and then finalizing all the details for the new album. I am excited to say that the CD (named “Darlingford”) will be released to the public in Canada and Europe in May, but there are a few special pre-release concerts I’ll be doing where folks can pick up a copy — Winnipeg, Darlingford, Cranbrook, Kelowna, Vernon and Calgary. And for all you Indie Music Angels, your signed pre-release copies will be coming to you verrrrry soon! In the meantime expect a digital copy to appear in your inbox

Rogers Pass

I’m home for a few weeks, then out West, then overseas for some shows in Germany and a whole whack of shows in the UK. I can’t wait! The fall will see me back touring in North America in support of the new record.

Thanks to all the amazing hosts on this past tour, to new fans who came out to the shows… Wishing you all peace, hope and enough moisture for crops and gardens –

Love Cara

A New Year's Kiss

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!

Love, peace and hope -

Cara

Having too much fun at Ontario Contact

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.

Peace, love and hope to you all –  Cara

Sailing fun...

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 assembling all my ducks, getting ready to head across the pond for a UK Teaser Tour.  Can’t wait!

Some other exciting news…  I recently found out that I’m a Mountain Stage NewSong Contest regional finalist, and if I win in my region I get to go to NYC in October to showcase in the final round!  SO fun!    The NewSong contest is all about discovering great artists, and I feel immensely honoured to be one of the regional finalists.  You can help by voting for me!  Just click on the link below and share it with your friends.  There’s a great live video you can check out too…

VOTE FOR CARA! CLICK HERE!

On the album front, we’re on the home stretch!  Yahoooo!  It’s currently being mixed and it’s sounding so beautiful.  Soon it will be in your hands and on your iPods 

There was a dark cloud this summer — Canada is grieving the loss of one of its fine leaders, Jack Layton.  His Letter to Canadians is beautiful… Please read it.  Thank you, Jack, you will be missed.

Here’s to cooler evenings, campfires, bikerides in the sun, amazing friends, safe journeys, and hope for all of us…

Love Cara

Shout it out! Ya! Photo by Julie Vincent

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, meeting incredible people, seeing new places, connecting with dear friends, eating wonderful homemade meals (and some great non-homemade meals)…  and now I feel like hibernating for a month 

I celebrated my birthday at the end of May, in my hometown of Calgary.  I have a bit of a love/no-love relationship with Calgary.  I love the people I know there, I love that there are hills and amazing parks and bike/walk pathways, I love the proximity to the mountains and the foothills, I love the sky, I love how it actually cools down at night in the summer for sleeping, I love that the basements are dry, I love how the sun is out so much all year round, I love the consignment stores, I love the Elbow and the Bow rivers, I LOVE Ginger Beef (a Calgarian invention and specialty), I love that there are more folk clubs in Calgary than any other place in North America (perhaps the world)… I loved growing up there.  What I’m not crazy about is the fast-paced feel of the city, which has gotten worse over the years, and the city’s obsession with wealth and consumerism.  Of the cars I see on the road there, most are worth more than what an average person makes in a year.  It always shocks me a bit.  There’s a vibe that permeates the city, almost like a pressure to prove your worth, that you need to drive the best car, own an expensive home, have all the right toys… spend spend spend.  It’s a tricky thing, because we live in a consumerist society and every city suffers from this to some extent.  How do we not get caught up in it?  All I know is that the best things in life aren’t things.  Visits to my hometown get me thinking seriously about all this stuff, about where I want to put my energy, what my values are, who my community is.  We all have love/no-love relationships with our hometowns and with our current locations, and maybe that’s good.

My Folk Rock class at FAMI!

One of the highlights of my tour was being an instructor at FAMI camp (Foothills Acoustic Music Institute), that took place at a camp near Bragg Creek, AB.  I taught the Folk-Rock Ensemble class and oh my, did we have fun.  I have never belted out Guns n Roses and Twisted Sister quite like I had that weekend.  And the jams that went til all hours…  It took me a week just to recuperate!    I highly recommend checking out FAMI:  http://www.fami.ca

Another highlight was my time down at the Coast.  I played a superb house concert series on Bainbridge Island and made friends for life.  Over in Vancouver I had such an amazing time playing for the Lynn Valley community, I unofficially adopted myself out to them.  I also performed at the Bluebird North concert series and had a blast.  Met some great fellow songwriters, and finally got to connect with my NBF Shari Ulrich.  I gave a small intimate show at a chocolate shop of all places, and had perhaps the BEST hot chocolate in my life: dark and spicy hot chocolate with homemade salted caramel marshmallows.  You have to check this place out:  http://www.cocoanymph.com/

I was also able to visit a bit with Rufus Stewart, one of Canada’s finest instrument repairmen.  Rufus has been looking after my old Martin HD-28, getting it back into shape and back to its glorious sound.  If you’re looking for a great repair person, he’s the man:  http://www.rufusguitars.com/ I played for the first time down in the Crowsnest and Twin Butte (on the way to Waterton), even got to see Waterton for the first time.  Gorgeous.  Shows in Calgary and Edmonton were awesome (as were the audiences).  So many other wonderful things happened on this tour (even the trip to TO was good, despite the horrid cycling accident… I got to hang out with the Weeds who I love!!!).

My Dad sitting in on a song at a show in Calgary... Very cool!

The album is currently being mixed and I’m feeling all the nerves and worries and stresses one always experiences when about to bring something so personal and creative into the world.  All I can say is I hope you all love it!  This project would not have been possible without the incredible amount of support I received from friends and fans across the globe, to people who pre-ordered online, those who pre-ordered at concerts, those who sent pre-orders through the mail… It has exceeded my wildest hopes.  Thank you.

Peace, hope, trust and light to you all -

Love Cara

All cleaned up, waiting for that black eye to appear...

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 and while en route to the studio one sunny afternoon, I had a pretty bad cycling accident, thanks to construction and street-car tracks.  The citizens of Toronto were gracious and kind and supportive (while a police officer was across the street writing out a speeding ticket to someone and it took 20 minutes for her to come over to check on me… hmmm… some compassion training may be needed in the ol’ police force there), and the doctors and nurses on the emergency ward were great.  While sitting in the waiting room, face and clothes and hands splattered in blood, I exclaimed “whew! Thank God I didn’t break any nails!”  Oh my, I definitely had hit my head.    As a guitar player, nail breakage is no fun, but then again neither is bone breakage in the hands.  heeeeh  After several x-rays I was told there were no broken bones on my face or hands, and after some stitches I was able to hobble out of there and head to my friend’s place, where they graciously washed the blood out of my clothes.

Looking a bit scary here...

Holding off on shaving for awhile...

The next day I flew to Edmonton, scaring young children in airports with my black eye, and had 2 very fabulous concerts there.  Now I’m off to Calgary and places further south and am looking forward (?) to getting back on the bike again, if I can bend my knee without bleeding everywhere.  ai yi yi.  The tour has been renamed the Bloodied But Unbowed Tour (thanks to my superfan and friend Neil!).

In lighter (and happier) news, the album is almost done!!!!!!!!!!  There’s still time to hop on board as an Indie Music Angel (check out the link over on the right, or watch the oh-so-fun video in the previous post).  So many Angels have been involved in the making of this album, from all over the globe… I feel like the luckiest indie artist around!  Thank you all so much!

Peace, light, love and healing to you all -

Cara 

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 students to work filling sand bags… Spring is definitely here!

I’m gearing up to head West for a wee Spring Teaser Tour where I’ll be showcasing the material from the upcoming new album. I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support I’ve received from fans far and wide, so many of you have pre-ordered a copy of the album and that money has gone directly towards the recording budget. There’s still time to be part of this new album as an Indie Music Angel! Check out the video posted above, or click on the link just over to the right. Better yet, come on out to a live show and pre-order a copy in person, and I’ll give you a hug and a nifty 3 song sampler CD to say thanks!

Is spring here yet?

I’ll sign off with a funny picture of myself, taken by my lovely roomie (who of course didn’t tell me I was her photo subject). Here I am working at home, and apparently I’m not convinced that it was indeed the right time to turn off the furnace… Maybe I ought to wait a few more weeks. hee hee

Thanks again for all your support. With love, peace and light -

Cara

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.  Speaking of the ground, the Peg is still covered in snow, and in a few days the temp will drop back down to -20.  Ah, what a winter we’re having.

Recording in a 100 year old church

The new album is coming along, and it’s sounding sooooo beautiful.  My trusty engineer Lloyd Peterson and I have been comping and editing away, we have so many guest musicians involved from all over the place, it has been such a treat.  Here’s a photo of where we’ve been doing a lot of the recording.  Quite the vibe! 

More info to come about the new album, including a super cool video made by my friend Alex in Calgary!  We’ll be getting it up online this week.  yay!

Thank you again for all your support!

Love, light and hope -

Cara

Location recording...

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 for so many, it’s time for a year full of hope, promise and light.  I’ve been picking up the pieces of my heart and life, putting things back together again, and it’s all starting to look like a beautiful mosaic… wow…

There were some rays of light in 2010… One of them was the two month European tour I was on this past fall.  I had the honour of touring the Netherlands, Germany and the UK, and joining me on the tour was my good friend and new side player Scott Poley.  Scott and I met many fine folks on our journey, reconnected with old friends, met fans who drove long distances to catch a show, met fans who promoted shows for us, housed us, even fed us!  Heartfelt thanks to all of you!  We ate clotted cream not once, not twice, but 3 times (and I’m still paying for it… heeeeeh).  We had some sold out shows, many full houses and received a slew of A+++ live show reviews!  Pretty awesome… 

South Devon

Some wonderful things about the tour:

- Kai, my German super-fan (you rock!)
- Lee and Jan and their wonderful family in Augsburg (love you guys!)
- Thomas Eberhardt and his family in Neidlingen
- the AMAZING community of folks at Café Castaneda!  Can’t wait to see you all again!
- salads in Germany (sooo yummy)
- hanging out with the fabulous Andrew McCrorie-Shand, and touring his oh so cool new studio space (a converted church)
- Johnny and Anna and the fine folks at the Whitstable Folk Club
- a house concert with James and Anna (James was the drummer in my band waaaaaay back in the day…)
- everyone at the Ram Folk Club
- the Kelvedon community (hope to see you in the fall!)
- Bruce and Nicola and the Lillingstone Lovell community  (my Home away from Home), how I love you!
- Ruth and Gord up in York
- the Poley and Cowley Clans
- Andy and Pam Worthington, my home in Wales
- all the promoters who hosted us and everyone who came to the shows!
- Devonshire Clotted Cream and the Devon Chili Farm 

Cara and Scott on tour - Photo by Tim Burr

Another treat for me this past year was my first co-writing experience.  My dear friend Lewis Melville and I wrote a chunk of great new songs, all of which are being primed this minute for recording! Which brings me to 2011… The new album is coming along beautifully and I can’t wait for you all to hear the final result!  The CD is slated to be ready for listening consumption this summer.  Want to be part of it?  Check out the link on the sidebar…

I want to thank all of you for your continued support over the years.  This new album is for all of you.

Much love, peace and light -

Cara