Terra Lightfoot
World finally catching up to Hamilton singer-songwriter
Terra Lightfoot is up against some ridiculously tough competition at the Juno Awards in Vancouver later this month.
The Hamilton singer-songwriter is vying for best adult alternative album against Gord Downie, whose place in Canadian culture approaches sainthood, and Whitehorse, the husband-andwife duo of Melissa McCelland and Luke Doucet who won the same category just two years ago.
But on the weekend, Lightfoot proved at two sold-out hometown concerts that she is worthy of any award this country has to offer, win or lose when the Junos are announced March 25.
To call Lightfoot — no relation to Gordon — “a singer-songwriter” doesn’t even begin to describe her talents.
Yes, she is a remarkable singer with a multi-octave voice that can reach into your heart and rip it out. And her songwriting gets better with every record she makes, with songs that can make you cry (“Norma Gale”) and songs that make you want to dance in the rain (“Paradise”).
But Lightfoot also has the unbridled passion of a rock and roller, falling to her knees to thrash out the fiery conclusion of “Hold You” on her battered Gibson SG and tacking on Elvis’ “That’s All Right Mama” to the end of her own song “The Truth.”
I took in the first of her two shows Friday and Saturday night at McMaster University’s hightech LIVELab theatre. She could have easily played a larger room, but she wanted a more intimate experience, with the best possible sound, for the about
170 people who came to see her each night.
Backed by drummer Joel Haynes, bassist Maury LaFoy and a six-piece string ensemble from the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Lightfoot performed 11 songs from her latest LP “New Mistakes” and a few more from her 2015 album “Every Time My Mind Runs Wild.”
She’s been touring hard since “New Mistakes,” criss-crossing the country with Bruce Cockburn and Whitehorse before taking off on her own tour of the U.S. and western Canada. She’s heading to Austin for South by Southwest before the Junos and then back on the road again with dates as far afield as Australia.
“This is an official hometown Hamilton release show,” she told the crowd Friday night. “We put the record out in October but we havent’ been here in months.”
You may have gathered by now that I’m a fan, have been for several years, watching her grow from a subdued folk-rocker to a power-pop torch singer, picking up more fans with every step of her career.
Lightfoot has been a local favourite for several years now. It’s nice to see that the rest of the world finally seems to be catching on, perhaps, just perhaps, enough to win her a Juno.