With its Dylanesque country-rock, rootsy blues, folk and haunting mountain balladry, Jerry Leger’s new album, Time Out For Tomorrow, will feature highly in our ‘Best of 2019’ list.

We spoke to the Toronto-based singer-songwriter, who will be playing shows in Europe and the UK in spring next year, about the ‘short and sweet, lean and mean’ sound he wanted to achieve on the record and how he was inspired by listening to Lou Reed and Nick Lowe…

Here at Say It With Garage Flowers, we’ve been championing Canadian singer-songwriter Jerry Leger since we first heard his brilliant double album, Nonsense and Heartache, which came out in 2018.

It was one of our favourite records of that year – as we said at the time, ‘essentially it’s two distinct collections of songs.  The first half  – Nonsense – is a raw, primal, bluesy, electric rock ‘n’ roll record, while the second instalment – Heartache – is a stripped-down, alt-country affair, with intimate ballads, lap steel, piano and fiddle. Put them together and you have an album that reminds us of those classic early Ryan Adams long-players Heartbreaker and Gold – yep, it’s that good…’

In April this year, Toronto-based Jerry and his band, The Situation, toured the UK and Europe to support the release of the limited edition, retrospective compilation, Too Broke To Die, which was put together especially for the European market and was available to buy from his merch stall on tour.

In an exclusive interview ahead of his East London headline show at What’s Cookin’, in Leytonstone, Jerry gave us a scoop – he spilled the beans about his latest studio album, Time Out For Tomorrow, which was due to be released in the winter of 2019.

He told us: “I’m really excited about the new record – I’m very proud of it. I really think it’s the best record I’ve made so far. It’s a cross between Early Riser [his seventh studio album from 2014] and Nonsense and Heartache sound-wise and it’s very concise – songwriting-wise, performance-wise, arrangement-wise and sequence-wise.”

Talking about the recording sessions, which were overseen by producer Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies), who worked on Jerry’s two previous albums, he said: “What was different this time around was that we rehearsed a lot before going into the studio, trying out different arrangements, but there’s still spontaneity on this record… A lot of it was played live in the studio, but I had more of a clear idea about how it was going to be executed. I already had in my mind what the arrangements were going to be. It took about a week to make.”

He added: “We went in with 18 songs, focused on about 15, then cut it down to 12 and 10 made it. Some of the songs that didn’t make it are some of the best, but they didn’t fit. It was like putting together a puzzle. I like records that are rough around the edges, but with this one I took a little more care putting those puzzle pieces together.”

‘It’s a nice, short and sweet, lean and mean record. I wanted to capture the sound of Nick Lowe’s The Impossible Bird and Lou Reed’s Coney Island Baby’

Asked about the sound of the new album, Jerry told us: “It’s a nice, short and sweet, lean and mean record. Two records I really dug the sound of that I wanted to capture on this record were Nick Lowe’s The Impossible Bird and one of my favourite Lou Reed albums, Coney Island Baby – I love that dry drum sound and the real directness of it. Some of the songs just coast along. I also like a lot of Nick Lowe’s older records with Rockpile, where he doubled the electric guitar solos. I doubled my vocals on some songs.”

It’s now more than six months since we spoke to Jerry – Time Out For Tomorrow was released in early November and it’s easily one of our favourite albums of 2019. From the Dylanesque country-rock of first single Canvas of Gold – with slide guitar and organ – to the melancholy, piano-led ballad That Ain’t Here, the blues-folk of Burchell Lake – inspired by a ghost town in Ontario – and the haunting and cinematic mountain tune, Survived Like A Stone – with fiddle and saw – these are raw, powerful and emotional songs that deserve to be heard by a much wider audience.

It seems that the word is getting around –  the recent European edition of Rolling Stone awarded Time Out For Tomorrow four and a half out of five stars and called it “his masterpiece”, monthly music magazine Uncut gave the album a positive review in its latest issue and well-respected specialist website Americana UK also had good things to say about it.

We caught up with Jerry recently and asked him if he thinks Time Out For Tomorrow could be the album that takes him to the next level?

“I hope it does – just to make it easier to keep travelling and making albums. I certainly think that there are enough people that would dig it to make that happen, but it’s hard these days,” he says. “Once upon a time the music would come to them, now they gotta dig for it, unless there’s a lot of money behind it, pushing it. We’ll be back in the UK and Europe in the spring [2020] – I’m really looking forward to it.”

Time Out For Tomorrow feels less bluesy than its predecessor – it’s more of an Americana record…  “Yeah – that’s a fair comment,” says Jerry. “I think the Nonsense portion of Nonsense and Heartache was basically a blues record. It’s just where I was at for those sessions. They’re all kind of blues records, but this one swings more.”

The basic band set-up for Time Out For Tomorrow – guitars/ vocals, piano, bass, drums and organ – is very mid-‘60s Bob Dylan…

“He’s influenced everything and everyone, whether they like it or not,” says Jerry. “As Warren Zevon once said, ‘He invented my job.’ Having said that, it wasn’t anything intentional. We just have a good buddy, Alan Zemaitis, who plays the organ like you’ve never heard. He recently played with Buddy Guy in Chicago, and Buddy gave him the nod and thumbs up. I really wanted him as part of the family on this record.”

 

The first single, Canvas of Gold, which was only written a few days before the recording sessions for the new album, includes the lines: “Everything was almost decided when we were young. You stay poor like your family before and I’ll keep hustling…”

Is the song autobiographical? “Well, my dad had a rough upbringing – not a lot of money in a very full house in St. John’s, Newfoundland,” says Jerry.  “He always worked very hard – he did a few jobs to make sure that we didn’t grow up the same way. His work ethic is still inspiring to me. He always had pride in what he was doing. My dad was no sell-out.”

‘Life is a hustle for people that don’t rely on luck, or rely on someone to create the illusion for them’

So, as a full-time musician trying to earn a living, does he feel like a hustler? “Yeah. Life is a hustle for people that don’t rely on luck, or rely on someone to create the illusion for them.”

One of our favourite songs on the record is the moving ballad, That Ain’t Here, which seems to be about escaping from fake people and from the harsh realities of life by being with a loved one. There’s a great line in it: “We sang our favourite song that everyone gave up on…” What’s Jerry’s favourite song on the album?

“I guess I like that one and Corner Light, and I love I Would – I just think it does what it needs to and doesn’t overstay its welcome, ” he says.

The title, Time Out For Tomorrow, was taken from the name of an early ’60s dime store collection of science fiction short stories given to Jerry by a friend. “I just couldn’t get the title out of my head. Everything around me seems like science fiction these days and the phrase ‘Time Out For Tomorrow’ fits these songs and my mood in one way or another.

“It seemed to make sense to me for this record,” he says. “Sometimes I know exactly what it means and sometimes I think it could be something else. I dig that.”

So do we. Time Out For Tomorrow is here and now – you need to take time out to listen to it today…

Time Out For Tomorrow by Jerry Leger is out now on Latent Recordings.  Jerry Leger and The Situation will be touring Europe and the UK in spring 2020. These are the confirmed dates so far – more will be announced:

09/04: Hengelo, NL – Metropool º
10/04: Arnhem, NL – Luxor Live º
22/04: London, UK – Green Note
23/04: Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
24/04: Hull, UK – O’Rileys
25/04: Stockport, UK – Roma Lakes
26/04: Winchester, UK – The Railway Inn
29/04: Örebro, SWE – STÅ – Pintxos & Vänner
30/04: Stockholm, SWE – Snotty Seaside
01/05: Ringebu, NO – Arnemoen Gard
02/05: Trondheim, NO – Moskus
03/05: Oslo, NO – Krøsset
05/05: Recklinghausen, DE – Creative Outlaws
06/05: Eindhoven, NL – De Rozenknop Eindhoven
07/05: Groningen, NL – Der Aa-Theater
09/05: Houffalize, BE – La Truite d’Argent – Hotel & Cabanes
10/05: Utrecht, NL – Café de Stad

º w/ Ben Miller Band