The new Spark program is about to kick off in Estevan with an emotional performance next week by Saskatoon artist Rachel Elizabeth.
Spark isa project by the Estevan Arts Council and has a mandate to have young people between the ages of 13 and 29 engage other youths through special events, and the idea has Elizabeth particularly excited.
“I’m really excited to play a show that’s focused on youth; I got to do collaboration with some youth poets in Saskatoon where they wrote poetry based on my songs and it was probably one of the best shows I’ve ever played,” Elizabeth said.
“So I’m really excited to connect with younger people.”
The May 26 performance, which will take place at the Estevan Art Gallery, is the second time she’s come through Estevan and she said this time around the audience can expect a show that’s bit more serious, but still uplifting.
She describes her sound as folk oriented with a touch of ambience and heavy inspirations of poetry and assured she’ll do her best with between-song banter to keep the mood light.
Lyrically her songs touch on family, growing up and those little thoughts that get stuck in one’s head before going to bed.
“Sometimes it’s just a feeling and I use the lyrics to explore those weird feelings a little bit,” she said.
“Things that are harder to name.”
Elizabeth, who used to write and perform under the moniker Fern, has released two EPs, a few single one-off tracks, and is expecting to release a full-length album by the end of the year.
The full-length, titled Wildflowers of the Prairies, draws inspiration from a book her great grandfather wrote with the same name, and draws from her experience growing up in the Prairies.
“It wasn’t a popular book by any means, but it stuck around in our family, so I thought it would be a really good jumping off point to write about my life growing up in the prairies and include some of the imagery and maybe work in flower names to explore other ideas,” she said,
“So there’s a lot of family history and just my own experiences growing up in the prairies.”
When it comes live performances it’s connecting with the audience that makes her love taking the stage time and again, and this new material seems to be striking a chord with fans.
She said after recent shows people have been approaching her and telling her how they’ve shared similar experiences to what they here in the lyrics, and that to her is a big deal.
“It kind of makes the emotional performance worth it because it can be draining sometimes,” she said, then added with a laugh, “Just come expecting an emotional performance, but not to worry, it’s not going to be too dire.”
