After being saluted as a national treasure by the CBC for his last album Beautiful House, expectations are high for Victoria singer/ songwriter Leeroy Stagger who brought pop sensibility to the deeply rooted ferocity of punk and added a shot of country.
It was widely received as the "finest alt-country, rock 'n' roll record to come out of sa国际传媒 in years."
Stagger is gearing up for the release of his latest, Depression River, out Oct. 3 on Boompa/EMI. He'll be at the Queen's Hotel in Nanaimo on September 20.
I caught up with him in Victoria where he's preparing to give his life back to the road.
"I've learned that to be a success, you have to tour your ass off," he says.
Subscribing to a deeply ingrained DIY ethic Stagger has earned himself international acclaim and a mass of loyal fans.
Spending the last year writing so much it was, "kinda like spring cleaning to get it all off my plate," he says.
"It had a lot to do with where I grew up . . . It was a strange time," he says describing Shawnigan Lake in his childhood. The songs on this album brought a sense of closure to that era for him.
Current events also worked their way into his head. 'Where I Live' was inspired by Stagger's horror and dismay at Victoria's sewage treatment issues and the apparent apathy around the filth being dumped into our waters.
'Tired Of Being High,' while not written specifically about Victoria, is a strong statement about the issues of homelessness and drug abuse that plague many cities.
Stagger also says that there's a strong anti-war theme on the album but it's, "More about standing up for what's right . . . . you shouldn't have to keep your mouth shut."
"I try not to stand up and soap box it," he says but acknowledges that it's a responsibility when you're in the public eye. In spite of all this Depression River is not a bleak record but it is a very raw one combining sharp wit with pop sensibilities and deep country pain. Early accolades make comparisons to classics like Neil Young's Harvest and Steve Earle's Copperhead Road. Producer John Ellis (Barney Bentall, Long John Baldry, Be Good Tanyas) worked with Stagger at The Factory in Vancouver.
"It was awesome. It was really easy. He really pushed me to play (guitar)," Stagger says.
Ellis was happy to make only minor changes to the material and instead focused on making sure the band was really tight before going into the studio.
- With more than a decade in the trenches of the music industry, we're reasonably sure Alexandria knows what she's talking about: e-mail at [email protected].