Kayla Luky turned to music as a way to entertain herself, growing up in rural Manitoba.
"I grew up on a farm between the Riding and Duck Mountains, north of Gilbert Plains," said Luky who will perform at 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer with Thursday (May 12), in support of her newest disk.
Luky said for the most part she is self taught in regards to the craft of music.
"One day I decided to learn how to play guitar and just did," she said. "From there songwriting came easily. My immediate family isn't musical, and I don't have any credited formal training.
"Living in the boonies made for less options and less people to see, so I suppose I had to keep myself entertained somehow."
Luky terms herself "a singer/songwriter", although she added "my latest work definitely sounds alternative-country."
That is not surprising given that she includes Blue Rodeo,Neko Case, Emmylou Harris and Neil Young, among her musical influences.
At the same time Luky did not immediately gravitate to alternate country, instead trying several musical outlets.
"I started playing live opening for punk-rock bands in Dauphin," she said. "I've played at many kinds of venues to audiences large and small. Coffee-houses, house shows, bars, festivals -- some larger highlights would include four self-released full length albums, western Canada tour and being a contestant on Canadian Idol Season 6, with my Winnipeg audition airing on television."
You can watch it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyoO0Lqwqqw&feature=bulletin
The newest recording is 'The Time It Takes'.
The material was accumulated over the past three years.
"My writing is not as profuse as it once was, but I feel what I now lack in quantity I make up for in quality of material," said Luky. "After spending some time in Winnipeg, I think the new record reflects the influence of living back in a small town."
The CD is one close to home for Luky, literally.
""The Time It Takes" was recorded out of my home in Grandview, MB over the course of about a week and a half in December," she said. "A lot of the songs off of the album were recorded live on my part -- vocals and guitar at the same time."
Luky said on this CD she went for a somewhat fuller sound than her usual stage show.
"The biggest difference from stage to session is that this album includes much more instrumentation than what I am used to performing with," she said.
"The album is very produced in comparison to my past efforts.
"This made the whole recording process different -- more people involved, more elements to consider."
The added effort has produced a disk Luky is proud of.
"As mentioned before, the album is much more produced than some of my previous albums," she said. "I am quite happy with the finished product. I was lucky to have had such great musicians and people involved in the project.
"Recording out of my home was an awesome experience, I would definitely continue to record this way."
All the songs were written by Luky, with Zachary Lucky acting as producer & Engineer, and Sean Craib-Petkau, formally of Yorkton the assistant engineer. Lucky, who also has Yorkton area ties, also provided acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, and background vocals on Lonesome Ranger for the album.
With the new album Luky said she plans to focus exclusively on her musical career in the months ahead.
"The next six months I will be focusing primarily on music -- I took a leave of absence from my 9-5," she said. "It will be a change of pace and lifestyle for me, as I have been working full time for the past four-years, putting in 16-hour days at times. Not having the regular '9-5', and being able to focus on music and the ins and outs involved with it will be an interesting and refreshing experience.
"I am a hard worker, and I hope over the next few months time will tell if music on a full time basis is the route I am supposed to take next.
"Here's hoping!"
