by Sheldon Birnie
Zachary Lucky is one tireless performer. The talented songwriter, from Saskatoon, SK, travels endlessly back and forth across the Hillbilly Highway here in Canada, stopping in Winnipeg more than a few times each spin around the sun. Lucky’s just rereleased his beautiful 2012 album Saskatchewan on vinyl, and to celebrate he’s making a pit-stop at the Rose N Bee on Sunday on his way to Ontario. Lucky had some time last Sunday to chat about it.
Stylus: You’re coming through town on Sunday.
Zachary Lucky: Yeah. It’s kind of snuck up on me, but that’s how these things go I guess.
Stylus: Is it a one-off or do you have a tour set up?
ZL: Well I just released my latest album Saskatchewan, which came out in March, I just rereleased that on vinyl. Twelve-inch 45. So I’m going out to Ontario for a string of about 20 or 25 shows, kind of spending most of February around Ontario. I’ll be stopping in to the Folk Alliance and showcasing there. It’s a bit of a stepping stone on the way, you know. There’s some good friends that do a weekly thing on Sunday nights at the Rose N Bee and it seems to be a good thing. Seems like a lot of people are interested in it. I’ve heard some good things about the venue, so I’m keen to play.
Stylus: I guess the last time I talked to you was when you were putting out Saskatchewan in March. What’s the reaction been to the disc?
ZL: It’s been really good. It’s been a long journey, from when we started recording it to when we released it. We toured it for about 80 dates across the country when it came out, it was just exhausting. The whole spring was just wild, being on the road so long. But it’s been good. It was a real stepping stone, that record. I felt like I went in a direction I was comfortable in. It felt like a significant change from the previous records. I think people understand that, and enjoy the songs. A couple of the songs are going to be on a couple different CBC shows right away.
Stylus: Apart from putting Saskatchewan out on vinyl, what else have you been up to lately?
ZL: It’s been a really quiet fall. Just with how crazy the spring was. Every summer we go out east to New Brunswick. Me and Carly Maicher run a folk festival out in New Brunswick. So that takes up a fair chunk of time too. We played a bunch of shows in September and October. In December we did the Prairie Roots Revue again, and that went really well. It was a great line up this year. So we had a lot of fun. All of that aside, I’ve just been working towards getting a handful of new songs together. We’re hoping to get into the studio in March when we get back from tour. I’m really excited about these songs. It’s just a whole collection of songs that really feel like they belong together. We’re actually looking at the idea of actually going into a studio this time, which is something we haven’t done in the past. We’re looking at having a few more people involved. It feels like a natural progression.
Stylus: We gonna hear any of those songs in Winnipeg?
ZL: Definitely! I’m working through these songs and I’ll definitely be playing a few of them.
Make sure to check out Zachary Lucky at the Rose N Bee this Sunday evening as he makes a stop along the Hillbilly Highway headed East.