He’s a high energy performer who works a piano and vocal ranges with aplomb and feeling.
Jeffery Straker who splits time between Regina and Toronto, will be in Estevan on Oct. 17 for an evening with an intimate audience at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum as part of their After Dark musical entertainment series.
When the Mercury caught up with Straker, he was just coming off a Toronto rehearsal for a performance for the Childrens’ Wish Foundation. He had just completed a three-date performance schedule at the Toronto Music Awards, Walk of Fame and at the University of Toronto.
He was also putting in some serious time in the recording studio in TO, producing the final mix for his upcoming album.
“With this one, there is a real mix with a full band, strings, horns … it’s a little different sound to surround the piano,” he said.
In Estevan, the evening will include Straker and his travelling keyboard and guitarist Brodie Mohninger who, he says, “interprets my songs so well, it will work in the smaller setting.
“I’m travelling back and forth between Toronto and Regina and my music is evolving back and forth, too. In Toronto it’s a real media centre for a player so it’s a good place to try and keep your momentum.”
Straker’s momentum of late has been huge, especially after he captured the coveted Vina del Mar best performance award in February and a $100,000 cash prize. It’s Latin America’s answer to America and Canada’s Got Talent shows. Straker had to survive five grueling rounds of performances that included not only piano and vocals, but also a lot of choreography and stage presence issues that he had never encountered before.
“When I was first invited to apply I didn’t know much about the contest (in Chile). I thought it was a hoax. But when I looked into it, I saw it was for real. They covered all expenses and they assign a lot of professionals to help you get ready. The show is broadcast around the Latin world, their version of Eurovision. We had over 20,000 in the live audience.”
There is a non-competition section to the program that featured performers such as Rod Stewart, Elton John and Ricky Martin and then the competition part, which is where Straker was.
“We get chucked on stage and it’s not easy, but when I won the darn thing the first night and saw the judges’ scores I started to pay more attention and decided I was just going to keep going back. Because there is so much work behind it, you’re only allowed to sing one song, so I did Hypnotize. It was a toss up between it and Slings and Arrows. So you add the choreography and the fact you have to be aware of all 16 cameras that are recording, it took a lot to make it happen, but it did happen,” he said with a chuckle.
Straker said he’s never played an Estevan gig before so is looking forward to a fun evening in the EAGM.
In the past, Straker has worked with the Regina and Saskatoon Symphonic Orchestras who work his original songs into full sound productions. Since he earned a licentate diploma in piano performance from London’s Trinity College as a teenager, that kind of work is not as intimidating as you might expect. He’s also slated for a similar appearance with the Northern Ontario Symphony in Sudbury soon.
He recently completed an album with CBC Regina, being the last musician to be able to work with their producers and recording equipment before it was removed due to their budget cuts. “It was a real gift to have that recording capability in Regina. I would have been a fool not to have that performance on a recording.”
He’s also slated for some performances in Calgary while back here in the west and then it’s back to Toronto for Kreiner Hall and some interesting evenings working with Billy Joel and Elton John songs, putting them into his musical stylings along with several other performance artists.
Straker was a recent victim of song theft in Regina with his personal recording equipment along with his lyrical ideas being taken by a thief or thieves. A personal plea to have the recordings, his song ideas and arrangements returned, has not been successful.
It’s no small loss since Straker has been a finalist in the Canadian Radiostar Songwriter Contest as well as a finalist in the Global songwriting competitions.
A native of Punnichy Saskatchewan, the son of a church organist mother and an auctioneer father, Straker, who holds a BSc degree in plant biology, understands his home province and its audiences, perhaps like no other. He knows what he has to do in Toronto and beyond, but he also knows and wants to work and entertain in his home province and he doesn’t care how small or large the audience is, as long as they enjoy the music and have some fun.
The music will begin around 8 p.m.
