Fri, Jul 17th, 8-10pm, Concert – Jeffery Straker – CD Release Tour - Folk-Pop
Singer-songwriter-pianist Jeffery Straker performs over 100 shows per year across Canada. He recently recorded for CBC radio’s ‘Canada Live’, and had a music video rise to the top 10 (#6) on Canada’s Much More Music. His album ‘Step Right Up’ was the #5 selling album in his home-land of Saskatchewan in August 2010, ahead of both Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. He’s sure neither of them cared. But he is sure that he, in fact, did. He launched a new album in 2011, ‘under the soles of my shoes’, and toured Canada in support of it with shows ranging from intimate house concerts to a sold-ou`t orchestral debut with the full Regina Symphony Orchestra (Oct 2011). His songs have played on both CBC and commercial radio. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCdGSqrymBg
http://jeffstraker.com/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck7a1FNEF-c   https://youtu.be/MY4xjMDz4A4
Winner of Vina del Marr 2014: http://jeffstraker.com/winner-of-the-vina-del-mar-international-song-competition-2/
Tickets @ Door $15 Advance $12 on sale now @ Char’s Landing or call (778) 421-2427 to purchase with Visa/MC
FMI http://alberni.ca/events/14135  Char’s 19+ Lounge opens M-F 4pm, S-S 1pm www.charslanding.com Char’s Landing, 4815 Argyle @5th. Port Alberni V9Y 1V9
Jeffery Straker
Singer-Songwriter-Pianist
 
Singer-songwriter-pianist Jeffery Straker performs over 100 shows per year across Canada. He has recorded for CBC radio’s ‘Canada Live’, had a music video chart in the top 10 on Much More Music TV and has toured internationally as far as Ghana, Africa and Peru. His tour stops range from intimate house concerts to club & theatre shows and include recent sold-out concerts (capacity 2000) with the Regina Symphony and Saskatoon Symphony Orchestras.  The review following his orchestral debut read: “Straker was simply spectacular...clearly one of the province’s best cultural exports”. Canadian Musician Magazine has said, “Very much an artist to watch” while the Chicago Free Press has written, “Rufus Wainwright, as well as k.d. lang are among the Canadians making essential and beautiful music. Add the name Jeffery Straker to that list”.  His latest career boost came from winning the prestigious Vina del Mar (Chile) song competition in 2014 representing Canada.  Performing live to a festival crowd of 20,000 people and to a TV audience of 100,000,000 viewers across the Spanish speaking world he gained a fan following putting him in demand for performances in Latin America.  He’s already toured Peru with Mexico slated for 2015.
 
Straker launched his latest collection of songs, “Vagabond” in 2012.  Produced by Canadian multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter Danny Michel it was a thrill for Straker to record on Glenn Gould’s grand piano at the CBC studios in Toronto. The release met with critical acclaim with the Toronto Star giving it 4 (out of 4) stars and calling it “one of the most faultlessly conceived and meticulously executed albums in any genre to come out of Canada in a long time”. “Vagabond” debuted in the top 20 on the iTunes singer-songwriter charts and charted in the top 10 on several college radio stations across Canada. Xtra! (Toronto) said of the album: “like the unexpected yet surprisingly down-to-earth lovechild of Neil Young and Elton John”. Straker crossed Canada on a 50 date tour supporting the album."
 
Straker is now set to launch a new collection of songs in March 2015.  The 12-song album “North Star Falling” was produced by Dean Drouillard (Royal Wood, Justin Rutledge) and weaves a new sound around Straker’s songwriter-piano-pop.  Electric guitars, horns, & strings as well as acoustic guitar and banjo help set the stage.  The launch of the album (Acronym/Universal Canada) includes a national tour with performances from coast to coast.
 
Originally from small town Saskatchewan, the classically trained pianist was raised by a church organist mother and auctioneer father. He swears he was born under the piano on the family farm. All this might explain his incredible ability to share songs with audiences."
  Jeffery is a musical descendant of Beethoven through teacher-student lineage (see his website for the full story). He was a student of the
Royal Conservatory of Music and received his licentiate diploma in piano performance from Trinity College, London when he was just 19.
 
Jeffery has been invited to showcase at many major events including Canadian Music Week, NXNE, the Western Canadian Music Awards (4 times), plus JunoFest.  His songwriting has seen him become a national top 10 finalist in the Canadian Radiostar Songwriting Competition and a two-time top 10 finalist in the Mountain Stage Song Competition (USA).
 
Visit www.jeffstraker.com for more info + tour dates.