Bio
Jeffery Straker grew up taking piano lessons in small-town Saskatchewan and has gone on to perform over 100 shows per year across Canada, Europe and Latin America. The rootsy-storytelling of his songs has the power to transport a listener – out onto a lake in Canada’s North or to the main street of a prairie town. A clever lyricist with an energetic piano style, his song writing has drawn critical comparisons to the likes of Harry Chapin, Kris Kristofferson , Murray McLauchlan & Billy Joel, while maintaining a style distinctly his own. He’s recorded his music for CBC radio’s ‘Canada Live’, has seen his songs used in film, TV and theatrical productions and in 2020 and 2021 was awarded “Roots/Folk Artist of the Year” at the Saskatchewan Music Awards. In 2019 he received his first Western Canadian Music Award. The Saskatchewan Country Music Awards have named him ‘Keyboard Player of the Year’ 3 years running.
“Very much an artist to watch” – Canadian Musician Magazine
A musical vagabond, he’s toured internationally as far as The Netherlands, England, Mexico and Nunavut with tour stops ranging from intimate house concerts to theatre shows as well as festivals. Never one to let ‘genre’ constrain him he’s also taken the stage in sold-out concerts performing his songs with symphony orchestras. In 2014, an international career boost came from winning the prestigious Vina del Mar (Chile) International Song Festival, representing Canada. Performing to a live 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 in Latin America.
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”. The Calgary Herald has added praise saying, “Traces of some of the best piano-based singer-songwriters of the past 40 years, couched in his inimitable and effervescent style”.
Straker grew up listening to country music on his parents Saskatchewan grain farm at the same time he was studying classical music and performing full sonatas and concertos by composers such as Beethoven and Grieg. Eventually, the work of fellow Saskatchewan native Joni Mitchell prompted him to begin writing his own material, and Straker’s focus shifted to poetry and hooks. His recent recordings sound, wonderfully, like his influences.
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