‘BEAUTIFUL SOUND’
SSO, Straker in harmony
The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra’s Pops Series is kicking off with a local musician of high renown.
Jeffery Straker is originally from Punnichy, and it’s his work that will be featured in the SSO’S concert on Saturday. A singer/ songwriter/pianist, Straker’s music is often played by small, acoustic ensembles. He spoke to the Starphoenix about having his music on a much bigger stage.
Q How would you define your style of music for someone who doesn’t know you? A I’m a singer, songwriter and pianist. The most common singer/songwriter
type out there is a singer/songwriter with a guitar, so a pianist is sort of a rare breed ... The other genre you could use to describe it is folk-roots with a pop twist, I suppose. I play a fair bit of folk fests and folk clubs, to those types of audiences, so I know folk people do gravitate to it, for sure.
Q What sort of challenges do you face in having your music go from that folk-style arrangement to the orchestra?
A It’s really interesting — I’m not sure if it’s a challenge or an opportunity. I write all of my songs for voice and piano ... each song has to get arranged for all those musicians by an arranger. I have some ability to do that, but for all these songs I have left them in the hands of very capable top-notch Canadian arrangers. And so then they put their spin on my songs to bring it to an orchestral setting. And I can’t really hear what that is until the first rehearsal. So if there’s a challenge, if you will, it’s having the patience to wait until rehearsal to actually hear the dang thing.
Q How does the orchestral arrangement of your songs change them for you?
A The beauty of it is, it breathes in a whole new life to the song. And when I do these orchestral shows, to me, it feels like hearing the songs for the first time again. And it creates this really great energy ... a concert, whether it’s for the symphony or a solo show, is all about energy. It’s about an exchange of energy ... when you add in the big sound of the orchestra, it’s a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful sound we don’t get to experience all the time, and it’s a very special paradigm for the music to be delivered from. But it also adds that energy.
Q As the featured performer, what is your favourite part of putting your music on a bigger stage like this?
A When you get to play with real pros like these guys and gals, there is a real magic that happens when it all ... clicks. And you’re
like, ‘This is firing on all cylinders now.’ When you can get (50 or 60 people) on the stage doing something that tightly together and conjuring up a sound that is so together ... it’s this real magical feeling. Of course it’s great that there’s an audience there viewing it, but selfishly it’s really wonderful to make that noise. It’s a really great feeling.
Q What can an audience who might now be familiar with your music expect from the concert?
A I’m pretty cognizant of how to try to make the set list be an arc, so I like to tell a story with a show. I like to try to create an intimacy in the room, so I talk to the audience between songs — sometimes about the song and where it came from, or thoughts I’m having in the moment — I like to get to know the audience ... I try to create that living room intimacy in a room like TCU Place.