Bio
Cara Luft, one of Canada’s most respected and beloved singer-songwriters, makes a long-anticipated return with a joyful solo album –– her first in over 13 years. Known for her warmth, authenticity and exceptional musicianship, Luft has won awards and amassed legions of fans captivated by her talent for pairing heart-on-your-sleeve lyricism with indelible ear-catching melodies. Her new album, My Heart Will Always Be, is her most assured and personal work to date, reaffirming her legacy as an essential voice in folk music.
As she turned 50, Luft faced multiple transitions: buying her first home, navigating perimenopause, receiving an ADHD diagnosis, and the ending of her decade-long duo project The Small Glories. Rethinking how she wanted to live and work moving forward from this period of upheaval & transformation, Cara's guiding principle was simple: to write and record with friends who embodied kindness, consideration and generosity of spirit. From this ethos emerged the foundations of her new album and a trusted creative entourage she affectionately calls The Quadrangle of Awesomeness. This close-knit group of collaborators included musician/singer/songwriter Clayton Parsons (Cranbrook, BC), producer/session musician Scott Poley (Liverpool, UK) and studio engineer Julia Graff (Vancouver, BC).
Recorded over 12 days in Vancouver, Cara, Clayton and Scott sang and played nearly everything themselves – guitars, banjos, pedal steel, electric bass & percussion – making it an intimate and cathartic experience. It showcases Cara’s uncanny ability to sing about personal experiences that resonate deeply with the listener, without descending into navel-gazing. “I want to create and offer a reflection of the human experience,” she explains. The album was mixed by Grammy winning engineer D. James Goodwin, and features Canada’s prairie punk-rock poet John K. Samson (The Weakerthans) and Grammy winning banjo queen Alison Brown.
The result is a tour de force, radiating clarity, freedom, and hard-won self-trust. My Heart Will Always Be is both a personal declaration and a celebration of music’s enduring power to heal, connect and bring joy.
Juno award winning singer-songwriter-musician Cara Luft is that rare artist steeped in folk and traditional roots music almost from birth, yet willing to alter the fabric, stretch the boundaries and fearlessly bend genres and styles. A founding member of Canadian folk super-group The Wailin' Jennys and the brainchild behind Winnipeg's acclaimed powerhouse duo The Small Glories, Luft deserves her solid reputation as one of Canada’s finest live performers, armed with amazing tenacity, vision, energy and a contagious hilarity. To quote the roots magazine No Depression, “Luft has a rich tradition in folk music – it’s safe to assume that she knows her stuff – and upon listening it becomes quite clear that she is indeed a formidable songwriter and performer... [The] lovely Ms. Luft sets the bar for the talented few who’ll follow in her footsteps.”
Cara has a spirit that drives her to connect with people, and for this she is loved everywhere she goes. Reviewers of her live shows talk about her compelling vocals, superb musicianship, humorous anecdotes, accomplished songwriting, ability to switch between styles and the charm of her stage presence. Cara’s the real deal, there’s nothing pretentious about her. And that sense of honesty, integrity, personality and spontaneity permeates both her music and her live shows. “Long may she reign!” (Lonesome Highway)