Along with his guitar and Clare Reynolds on back-ups, Australian folk singer Jordie Lane is travelling across Canada鈥攁 country he鈥檚 never before seen, unless you consider three visits to Ontario seeing the country.
鈥淭his is my first time outside of Toronto,鈥� he said while travelling to Huntsville, Ont. last week.
鈥淎nd Canada鈥檚 just terrible, I hate it. The landscape is ugly. The people are awful. No. That鈥檚 enough of the sarcasm,鈥� Lane said with a laugh. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually really good. It is massive. I didn鈥檛 realize how big it is. It鈥檚 really beautiful to see it all.鈥�
Over the course of his tour, which includes 25 shows from coast to coast, Lane said he really hopes to see a bear. 鈥淏ut I just want to make sure I鈥檓 not like a naive, ignorant tourist who ends up getting myself into trouble, so I need a little bit of advice,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always been my dream to hug a bear, but I shouldn鈥檛 be trying to hug them or anything like that, should I?鈥�
Lane is the son of a clown and a comedian, which comes through in his personality, both during shows and in conversation. He鈥檚 quick witted and fearless, often improvising and making up brand new songs while on stage. In fact, on his exclusive Canadian release of Live at the Wheaty, you can hear him do just that.
鈥淭hat show just turned into this crazy turn of events, where the audience started shouting out demands at me to write them songs and we kept all of that in the recording.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of back and forth with the audience, talking to them about who they are and what they do. I try not to plan anything, but I like to make up songs on the spot and try to give a performance that sounds like a band on my own, without any loop pedals and stuff like that.鈥�
Lane has been playing music since he was 10 years old, when he made a friend who introduced him to rock 鈥榥鈥� roll.
鈥淲e started writing songs at 10 or 11 years old and we had bands all through high school, but it wasn鈥檛 until I was 21 that I really started getting out there and doing it, so it鈥檚 been seven years.鈥�
During that seven years, Lane has released four albums, including his latest live recording, and he鈥檚 created a large following in Australia, where he has sold out national tours and made major festival appearances.
But, he said, 鈥測ou have to leave the nest sometime,鈥� so he packed up his life and moved to Los Angeles last month. 鈥淚 just needed some new surroundings,鈥� he said, noting that since arriving in North America, he鈥檚 felt a greater connection to music.
鈥淎s soon as I came to the U.S., I could finally really soak in and understand all of this music I grew up listening to, all the folk and blues and country music. I could understand it so much more when I was in the places where these people came from and on the streets they wrote songs about.
鈥淚 feel like I improved as a musician and songwriter when I got to the U.S. and that鈥檚 the same for Canada, as well.鈥�
Lane鈥檚 cross-Canada tour wraps up in Vancouver on Aug. 1, but not before he travels through the Rockies and stops in Jasper July 25. He said he won鈥檛 have much time to explore while he鈥檚 here, but he鈥檚 looking forward to seeing the majestic scenery on the Icefields Parkway.
鈥淚鈥檓 livin鈥� the dream,鈥� he said of his tour. 鈥淢y dream and goal in life was to travel the world and see the world and my hope was that I could do that using music as the vehicle for it, so it鈥檚 pretty cool.鈥�
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
