Tell us about your touring vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
We drive a sprinter. We have covered about 200,000 km, about 125,000 miles. One time we played in Brandon, Manitoba, a bar attached to a Chicken Chef restaurant attached to the Best Western we were staying at. We didn't even have to go outside to go to the show. It was January, one of the coldest in history. I remember getting paid in the chicken cook's kitchen after it closed. In the morning the van wouldn't start because it was so deadly cold: -30C / -22F, felt like -38C / -32F. Luckily our bass player had his friend's CAA card number so a guy showed up and helped us get it going. But we haven't eaten at Chicken Chef since then.
How do you eat cheap and / or healthy on tour?
Both are impossible! I like to buy some spinach and cook them in the van. We used to bring a blender and make smoothies, but honestly it's too much. Now let's just enjoy the ride wherever we are, doing our best to sleep well and have good coffee.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace it?
I very rarely break strings. When I opened up to the posies, I went to their encore song and did a dueling guitar solo with Jon Auer, which resulted in us tearing the strings off each other's guitars. I tried again myself at a Canadian summer festival – being rock & # 39; n & # 39; roll, which it probably was – but my finger was so injured afterward that I thought it was broken. (A nurse who was also a fan checked me out at the merch table after the show and told me I was fine.)
Where do you rehearse? Any interesting stories about the room?
Well, it's in the basement of a building in Hamilton, Ontario, right downtown. I think it used to be a strip club. Is that crazy enough?
What was the title and sample text from the first song you wrote?
It was untitled and instrumental. I wrote it on piano after watching a particularly sad episode of a show that I enjoyed when I was 10. Maybe breaker high with Ryan Gosling?
Describe your first appearance.
I was 14 years old. It was with my punk band who all happened to be girls. The drummer's father also had a band and they invited us to play three songs and open them for them in a place called The American House in Waterdown, the town where I grew up. I remember being so nervous that I could barely speak and I'm pretty sure we sucked.
What was your last job What was your favorite job
My last (and best) day job was walking dogs. I would take her to the forest lanes around Hamilton and keep her on a leash. It was a crazy job (it's pretty manic to have five dogs in a car at all times), but I love dogs so I enjoyed it so much. That was at least five years ago, and I'm happy to have made a living playing music ever since.
How has your music-related income changed in the last 5-10 years? What should it look like in 5-10 years?
I now really enjoy writing for other people and last year I started making records for other artists. I didn't really know I could do it. In five or ten years I want to write more for other people and have a studio in which I can produce records for myself and others – and of course play them live. I love rock & # 39; n & # 39; roll more than anything!
What do you know now that you wished you knew when you started your career in music?
So many things! I wish I knew it was going to be so much harder than I imagined, but at the same time it would be worth it. Music is in my bones, in my blood. It makes me so happy to be able to share it with people all over the world. I feel deeply fulfilled, which is all that anyone can really ask for.
Contemplate the Speed, Terra Lightfoot's latest release, is the result of the artist finding new roots on the street, more at home in her own skin than ever before. The artist's relentless urge as a touring performer earned her the distinction of becoming the first female recipient of the Canadian Independent Music Association's Road Gold award for selling more than 25,000 tickets in Canadian markets in a single calendar year. In addition to millions of miles traveled on a world tour, including marquee tour dates supporting iconic acts like Willie Nelson, Bruce Cockburn and Blue Rodeo, Lightfoot found time to create the groundbreaking tour, The Longest Road Show curate and produce revue.
Watch the Speed follows Lightfoot's 2017 album New Mistakes, which was long listed for the Polaris Music Prize and nominated for the JUNO Award for best adult alternative album. The lead single "Paradise" also received a production nomination and a SOCAN # 1 Song Award.
Connect online and (possibly) with Lightfoot.
