Jerry Leger,
Toronto-based singer-songwriter Jerry Leger loves to collect vinyl.
His music video for the Dylanesque rocker “Big Smoke Blues” from his latest double album “Nonsense and Heartache” was filmed at Discovery Records in his East End Toronto neighbourhood.
He loves mining records bins, and buys when the price is right. A few years ago he brought a Troggs record here in town.
“They’re such a great garage band,” he notes, adding he had no idea about The Troggs’ “Fairy Dust Tapes” that are almost as famous as the band itself.
Engineer Clive Banks made a bootleg tape of a recording session full of swearing and arguing between Troggs members singer Reg Presley and drummer Ronnie Bond while they were trying to record a song called “Tranquility.” It was like a moment out of “Spinal Tap.” “Ah, when you are young that is the type of stuff that keeps you going,” says Leger.
Leger was born and raised in Toronto. He grew up raiding his parent’s and grandparent’s record collections listening to Hank Williams and Howlin’ Wolf Muddy Waters and especially Sam Lightin’ Hopkins, as well as The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, The Troggs and Dylan. He loves legendary Canadian songsmiths/mentors like Gordon Lightfoot, Murray McLaughlin, Neil Young, Lucinda Williams, and Leonard Cohen.
Leger starting “fiddling around” on guitar when has 11 learning chords from his brother’s guitar books.
“I was not really interested in learning the song,” he says. “I just wanted to get a few chords together to come up with something so that I could write a song,” he notes. “I liked the idea of having to practice,” he adds.
At age 14, Leger was sick of “playing to the wall.” He decided to try his chances at local coffee nook for Friday open stage night.
No one was here except the two hosts who were a little older than Leger. He played to some high school friends, including a few of his originals and some covers.
“I played “Pocahontas” by Neil Young,” he recalls. “I guess I was feeling very cocky or something because I also played (Bob Dylan’s) “Desolation Row.” I don’t know. It’s kind of funny to think of all of the songs I would pick that.”
The café offered Leger Wednesdays where he worked for coffee and juice.
“It was really a lot of fun. It helped me get comfortable playing in front of people and it also helped me with projecting because they did not have any microphones, or PA. You had to sing out in the air,” says Leger.
“I thought I was to going to be getting out of high school and I was going to be a big deal,” Leger says.
“In my mind the industry was still alive and well. I was just so used to reading old history books and being obsessed with artists and bands. Likely most of them were even dead by then.”
Leger proudly writes his songs on old typewriters. “I am also a pen and paper guy,” he says. “I always had notebooks and stuff. Recently my girlfriend brought me a typewriter. That is fun because it is a different rhythm and it makes me write differently. There is a percussiveness about it that will get something out from a different area of my mind,” he says.
“It’s an old ’60s Olivetti like the one that Cormac McCarthy and Leonard Cohen used. I like the feel of it,” says Leger.
He has read a lot of Beat Generation authors like Jack Kerouac and loved listening to their recordings in addition to the “Word Jazz” of Ken Nordine. Hence, Leger’s spoken word/music side projects, the Del Fi’s and the Bop Fi’s. They feature poetry written and spoken by Leger with his friends providing a backdrop of jazz.
Leger’s discography includes DIY debut album “Jerry and The Situation” (2005) and “Farewell Ghost Town” (2006). His sophomore album included Ron Sexsmith on piano, and multi-instrumentalist Fergus Hambleton of The Satellites.
Leger and his band — The Situation, featuring multi-instrumentalist James McKie, bassist Dan Mock and drummer Kyle Sullivan — honed their chops playing countless Toronto bars. They made many friends in Toronto’s music community including Josh Finlayson of The Skydiggers. That resulted in 2008’s “You, Me and The Horse,” co-produced by Finlayson and longtime collaborator Tim Bovaconti. The album led to more exposure and radio guest spots in Nashville and Tennessee. In 2010, Leger released “Traveling Grey” followed by “Some Folks Know” (2012).
In 2013, Finlayson introduced Leger to Cowboy Junkies member/songwriter/ producer Michael Timmins who signed Leger to his label Latent Recordings which resulted in critically acclaimed 2014 release “Early Riser” featuring more of Leger’s solid songwriting supplemented with a textured, infectious roots/rock sound.
Leger’s latest release, “Nonsense and Heartache,” was longlisted for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize and features special guest vocalist Angie Hilts.
It’s a double-album showcase of Leger: Mellow, folkier sounds on the “Heartache” half (“Pawn Shop Piano,” “Lucy and Little Billy The Kid”) and searing roots and blues rock leanings on the “Nonsense” side (“The Big Smoke Blues,” “She’s The Best Writer You’ve Never Heard Of ”.)
Leger’s says there’s a lot of mutual respect between himself and Timmins.
“He keeps you on track with energy and performance,” he notes. “We love the same kind of music. We listen to a lot of the same records and we like going about a lot of things the same way.”