By David DeRocco

They may call her a “roots” rocker for the style of music she plays, but when it comes digging in, Terra Lightfoot is hardly someone who likes to be planted in one place.  In fact, this globe-trotting Hamiltonian’s relentless touring schedule over the last year has earned her the prestigious Road Gold certification from the Canadian Independent Music Association –  and a newfound appreciation on how to enjoy life on the road.

“The more you travel, the more you become attuned to certain tricks of the trade,” offered  Lightfoot, who earned the CIMA nod for selling over 25,000 tickets during a 12-month tour that included Canada, the U.S. and Europe. “I’d say the upside of touring is getting to see fans and friends in every town, and starting to know the places you're headed, to know what hiking trails to visit or what restaurants make everyone happy. I'll never forget the time I booked us a log cabin in the middle of the mountains near Golden, BC — we had a day off on tour and I built us a campfire in the snow in the mountains so high we were basically above the clouds. It was so glorious. Nights like that are the times we remember why we love touring. But the shows are obviously the best part.”

Most of those shows were comprised of songs from her acclaimed album Every Time My Mind Runs Wild, an exceptional showcase of Lightfoot’s powerhouse vocals and trademark Gibson-laced rock and soul. Given the amount of time she invested into the writing, recording and touring of that album, the over-riding emotion for Lightfoot at the end of that creative cycle is definitely one of contentment.

“I feel a sense of completion and closure,” said Lightfoot, who’s in St. Catharines for a special co-headline show with Donovan Woods March 24th. “There's a nice afterglow of the busy couple of years we had touring Every Time My Mind Runs Wild. I feel a real sense of camaraderie with the guys in the band, and I think we served the songs I wrote in that time period as best we could.”

Two of the most productive shows on that tour occurred during two intimate hour-long performances recorded at McMaster University, when Lightfoot and her band collaborated with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada. The results can be heard on Lightfoot’s new album Live In Concert, released on Sonic Unyon Records/Sony Music Canada in February. While Lightfoot’s music is best enjoyed in it’s pure and natural form, the emotional power of those dynamic orchestral arrangements was never lost on Lightfoot.    

“(The songs) “NFB” and “Emerald Eyes” were my favourites on this album because of how the songs were transformed by the accompaniment,” said Lightfoot. “They were bare bones, written in a basement apartment in Toronto, and now they're accompanied by a wall of sound on a big stage with a conductor. That feeling remains each time I play with an orchestra — I’m brought to tears in a really wonderful way.”

While playing with an orchestra may not have been part of her initial motivation to become a musician, Lightfoot was destined to pick up a guitar based on the wealth of immediate musical influences she had at home.

“I come from a  family of strong women musicians on both sides. My maternal grandmother was a working musician, as is my great aunt Theresa on the other side. Both were accomplished on their respective instruments and they helped to guide me — as a child, teenager, and as an adult — into what I wanted to do with music.”  

That nurturing environment provided fertile ground for the aspiring artist as a younger singer/songwriter. However, life lessons learned through experience have become the greatest teacher for Lightfoot, who has found that equal doses of happiness and upheaval provide the best  inspiration for – and challenges to – her songwriting.

“As I mature as a songwriter, I’ve learned that it's great to be able to write from both places. The last record, I was happy and in a relationship and so I wrote sad songs out of necessity, knowing I needed to push myself out of my comfort zone and out of my syrupy love song stage. It was a really great exercise because it showed me that I don't have to personally experience everything I write about. That allowed me to step outside the box a little and view my work from a different place.” 

With the release of the live album, Lightfoot is back on the road, winning new fans across the country and elevating her status as one of Canada’s most exciting female performers. With Canada in the earliest stages of a year-long 150^th anniversary celebration, Lightfoot is eager to join the party, although she admits there may be a much-deserved vacation in her future – albeit, the very distant future.  

“I know I'll be playing all across Canada. It would be really nice if I got to see Newfoundland and Nunavut this year — those are the only two provinces/territoriesI have not yet visited. I've been so happy to play in places like Yellowknife and Dawson City and Cape Breton. I’m pretty proud of Canada's natural beauty. As for five years from now, I plan to continue making music for the rest of my natural life. But it would be nice to be in Paris or Berlin or northern Scotland in five years, chilling out and eating a nice salad.”