Singer-songwriter Cara Luft is nearing the end of 50 shows to celebrate her 50th birthday and looking back on 30 years of performance.
The Juno winner and founding member of the Wailin' Jennys will wrap up that series with some Vancouver Island shows, including at Knox United Church in Parksville on May 10.
The 50 shows have taken her across western Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. over the last 14 months or so.
“I wanted to celebrate friendship, is really what is was, and the incredible people that I’ve met in my career,” Luft said, and added the concerts have seen her perform with a whole range of musicians, from rock stars to her own students. “It’s about coming together and creating something really special.”
She will be joined by special guest Clayton Parsons and both are whizzes on the guitar and banjo. The show will include a few "double banjo" songs, Luft said.
She has been working on a lot of new music lately, and the Parksville audience will be one of the first to hear her new material.
Luft has been playing folk and traditional roots music from a young age and recalled playing at a folk club at the age of 14.
"They gave me a 30 minute set which is quite a long set for a kid, and I was so nervous that I played every song twice as fast and I was done in 15 minutes,” she said, with a laugh.
She grew up in a musical household — her parents were a semi-professional folk duo in Calgary. Her mother comes from a long line of musicians and used to tour with her sister as a teenager in a folk bluegrass band. Luft's grandfather toured as a jazz guitar player and was a music teacher and choir director.
Luft has toured overseas frequently for the last 15 years and has built up a solid fan base in the UK and continental Europe.
She won a Juno Award with the Wailin' Jennys, and was nominated for a second Juno with the Small Glories, a roots duo Luft founded with J.D. Edwards. Luft said she is grateful for the awards, but added they are "not what it's about".
“Awards get you in front of more people sometimes and I think that’s the benefit of them, but I have learned that you never make a record for an award,” she said. “It defeats the whole purpose of creating art.”
The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. Knox United Church is located at 345 Pym St.
Tickets are $35 and are available online via Eventbrite and with cash at local retailers Close to You Boutique, Edge Outdoors and Fireside Books.
