The Current - Jeffery Straker’s new fan? King Charles III

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

Singer-songwriter Jeffery Straker performs some music from his new album Great Big Sky, and shares how he recently found out he has a new fan: King Charles III.

In 2017, it felt like drugs were everywhere in the news, so I started a podcast called On Drugs. We covered a lot of ground over two seasons, but there are still so many more stories to tell. I'm Jeff Turner, and I'm back with Season 3 of On Drugs. And this time, it's going to get personal. I don't know who Sober Jeff is. I don't even know if I like that guy.

On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current Podcast. How's everybody doing? Everyone alright? Oh my goodness. We are so happy to be in your town. The kindness that people have shown to us, the welcome that we have had here

in the few days that we've been here has been just overwhelming. And it's just wonderful to be here. So thank you very much for welcoming us, and thank you very much for coming here tonight. We have an incredible lineup of guests for you, and we'll start with our musical guest. He grew up in the small town of Punnish Eye, Saskatchewan. His new album is called Great Big Sky. It reflects those prairie roots. Please welcome to the stage of the Broadway Theater, if you would,

Jeffrey Straker. A tip of the big hat from Jeffrey Straker. How are you, sir? I'm well. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. This is really fun. What do you love about playing in Saskatoon? There's so many wonderful venues here, including this one,

but the audience is here, and everyone says this about their audiences, but my favorite audiences in Saskatchewan are here. They listen. They're loving. They give as much as they get. They're perfect people, Matt. They're wonderful. They give as much as they get. They're perfect people, Matt. They're wonderful. They're wonderful. That all might be true, but are you just buttering them

up because you are from the other city? I might be from the other city. I came up from down south. It got progressively colder as I made the drive. From Regina. From Regina, exactly. But I'm delighted to be here. We're not going to hold that against you. Just quickly tell me about the community that you grew up in. Panashai, Saskatchewan is a small grain farming town, about three hours from here, about 300 people. Wonderful place to grow up. I grew up on a farm beside the community. The school I went to was mostly First Nations people,

about 95% First Nations. We studied Cree as a second language in our school growing up. But a lot of these small towns over time, like mine, they're really shrinking. And the rural landscape's really changing. We're going to talk about that and those grain elevators that you've been playing in. You have fans across this province. You have fans across the country. You have a fan in King Charles. What is this? This is new, Matt. This is new. The King. The King. We're not Elvis here. We're talking about like the King, exactly.

He sent me a memo via the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan two weeks ago when I was on tour in England. And he really appreciated a song on my last record. He told me that he was touched by the tune, and he also sent me well wishes for my tour. I was like, this guy's quite busy, but he took the time to do this.

So I was pretty happy with that. The King has a CD player. I know. I was like, this guy's quite busy, but he took the time to do this, so I was pretty happy with that. The king has a CD player. I know. I knew he had the CD. I knew the CD made its way into his office because I got an email telling me so, and then I was like,

yes, but is there a CD player in Buckingham Palace? So luckily he heard it, so it's pretty cool. Apparently so. You're going to play a song first. What are we going to hear?

I'm going to sing a song called Some Say It's Just a Sky. It's a tune I wrote when I was away from here. I moved to this little town in Ontario that some of you might have heard of. It's called Toronto. And from there, I finally saw Saskatchewan when I got away

from it. And this is about me trying to explain what I believe the sky means to prairie people. Live at the Broadway Theatre, this is Jeffrey Straker and Some Say It's Just a Sky. These secondhand clouds from Alberta Are blown across Saskatchewan

Remind me how time keeps slipping by Working as heaven's hired gun I see a portrait of a whisperer Can't berate a thousand miles Some look up and say hallelujah Some say it's just a sky I moved to the city, my friends would ask Why do you always look up so high?

That's where my mind goes When it wanders, you see Where it went this time or somewhere ¶¶ ¶¶ ¶¶ Some say it's just a sky Oh, leave me feeling lonely Remind me how it feels To be found again And teach me about Keeping my feet down on the ground

And fill me with wonder Asking why Some say it's just a sky Some say it's just a sky In all that space the world will know And the world will want it to be You can't see it in a photograph And it never answers directly

But it's taught me that looking up Is just kind of life And looking deep inside for forgiveness for favors some say it's just this game won't leave me

feeling lonely remind me how it feels to be found again and teach me by Keeping my feet down on the ground And fill me with wonder Asking why Some say it's just a sky

Some say it's just a sky And the stars will make you long For all you've left behind And every sunrise will whisper Just give it one more try Leave me feeling lonely Remind me how it feels To be found again and teach me about Keeping my feet down on the ground

And fill me with wonder, asking why Some say it's just a sky Some say it's just a sky Some say it's just a sky These secondhand clouds from Alberta Are blown across Saskatchewan applause What are you going to play for us? Hey, I'm going to play a song of mine. It's called More Than Two By Fours and Timber, Matt.

And it's a tune I wrote. I'm taking people out of the city now. We're going out to the countryside, out in the prairies. It's a song about sort of the fall of the grain elevators and the disappearance from the prairie topography. This is Jeffrey Straker and More Than Two by Fours in Timber. applause

They drove for miles from every corner of the countryside Tomorrow would be too late So they came to see it just one last time There was a TV camera there by the railroad

tracks Some folks were pointing, looking up at it But most were looking back Used to be three grocery stores in town. There's just one left. Padlocked the doors, board windows up, blazed a little frayed at the edges.

And that church where they'd sing on Sundays long since closed. Now they're gathered here to struggle with holding on for once again letting go it was so much more than two by fours and timber that last

green elevator was coming down today under the breath People said goodbye They tried their best to take it all in stride They just got used to doing it that way For years that prairie sky

Screamers stood guard At the end of Main Street Farmers measuring luck By the bushel haul trucks Of wood they'd reap But the bottom line Nichols and Dines In progress have their say

They knew if you weren't From round here It wouldn't really matter anyway We were so much more Than two by fours and timber That last grain elevator Was coming down today Under them bread People said goodbye elevator was coming down today under them

red people said goodbye they tried their best to take it all in stride they just got used to doing it that way the bulldozer kept trying but had a hard

time getting her to move Though no one said it It's almost like they knew She had a point to prove An old couple looking on Said well Ain't that just how it goes

Nothing lasts forever Kind of clean their throats Used to mean From a distance We're heading somewhere When hidden here Now more than the last Green elevator

Was disappearing It was so much more than two by fours and timber That last green elevator Was coming down today Under them breath people said goodbye They tried their best

to take it all in stride It just got used to doing it that way Mr. Jeffrey Straker, live at the Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon. More than two by fours in timber. In 2017, it felt like drugs were everywhere in the news. So I started a podcast called On Drugs. We covered a lot of ground over two seasons, but there are still so many more stories

to tell. I'm Jeff Turner, and I'm back with season three of On Drugs. And this time, it's going to get personal. I don't know who Sober Jeff is. I don't even know if I like that guy. On Drugs is available now wherever you get your podcasts. There's that line in the song, if you weren't from here, it wouldn't mean anything anyway. Yeah. For people who aren't from this province, what do and what have those grain elevators meant to Saskatchewan?

I fell in love with them from an early age growing up in a small town, and every small town in Saskatchewan had these things. And they stuck up on the horizon as you were driving around Saskatchewan. The name of the town was on the side. And, you know, it was kind of something to see when you went for a drive, in a way, in Saskatchewan, you know. And one of my first jobs ever was cleaning the boot of one of these old elevators.

All the dust would settle to the bottom. And I had this job at 14 years old, and I would go down this deep hole with this bucket and down a ladder and bring up buckets full of dust. And, and I'm, I'm not Catholic, but I believe I discovered purgatory. Like it's, it's, it's, it's there. So, so you're welcome. I found it. But, but, but when these things went up, you know, at the turn of the century, it signaled to the surrounding areas, like, we're a community. We're doing this together. We're giving this our college try. We're going to give this a go.

And it was the heart of the community. And they were a real going concern for a while. They were the economic hub of those places. And now they're coming down. They peaked in the 50s. There were 3,000 of them, these iconic 30,000 bushel grain elevators. And today there's less than 175. What is lost when there's only that number left?

To me, they symbolize not just the elevator itself is going, but these small towns are going. And the hearts of these small towns are going. A lot of them are shrinking before our very eyes. And it's a real shift going on in Saskatchewan, you know? And when they went up, it was all this hope, and as they're coming down, what I hoped to try to ask in that question was,

now what? That's a tradition in Saskatchewan. There's another one that you were involved in, not just performing in grain elevators. Tell me a little about the TeleMiracle. TeleMiracle is a cause near and dear to my heart. It's a telethon, Matt. It's a telethon. People across the country

are going to be saying they have a telethon in Saskatchewan. What are they, a 1970? It's a big deal. It's been going on for 49 years and it's put on, I have to mention, by the Kinsmen and Canettes of Saskatchewan and it helps people in Saskatchewan get access to medically related travel

or to get medical devices, stuff that Medicare doesn't cover. And people do it because they know they're making a difference in their community. It's so beautiful, Matt. That's lovely. That ties into the next song you're going to play. It does.

Yes. And I'm proud to say I've been a host and performer on that telethon for the last 14 years. And part of the telethon is about 70 auditioned talent from small towns across Saskatchewan perform on the telethon. I am from a small town, as I mentioned, as you mentioned, it's called Punisher. And I wrote a song about being from this place. It's called One Foot on Main Street. I left the community, you the community a lot of years ago to go and explore the world,

but there's a part of that town that remains with me forever, and I tried to explain it in this tune. Let's have a listen. piano plays I would hear the horn blowing On the CN train Away from my bike as a kid Dream about where it could take me

I knew every house and every face inside No one locked their door Think about that place all the time Coffee roll and twirling stools At the Chinese cafe They'd solve the world's problems Before nine o'clock each day The past is full of diamonds

We once thought were gold Mama's shouting from front porches Come for supper Before it gets cold I grew up in a small town I'm a small town at heart I moved to the city But deep down

I've not gone that far No matter where my boots take me I grew up in a small town And I still got one foot on Main Street Cruising gravel roads on a Friday Hmm. Cruising gravel roads on a Friday evening. Music up, windows down, setting ourselves free. First cigarette outside the dance at the high school.

Learning how to make mistakes and damn it we were cool and getting out was all our minds yeah, seemed like only somewhere else where there were fortunes to find seventeen loaded up the

hatchback come back once a year at Christmas time To see Mom and Dad I grew up in a small town I'm small town at heart I moved to the city But deep down I've not gone that far No matter where my boots take me

I grew up in a small town And I still got one foot on Main Street Headed back the other day Took a drive And Grandma passed away And we said our goodbyes Potholes and peeling paint It had seen better days

Some would never see the beauty In this place and I heard the horn blowing on the CN train and I was a kid on a bike those were simpler days I used to know

every house and every face inside I wonder if they locked their doors think about that place all the time I grew up in a small town I'm a small town at heart I moved to the city but deep down I've not gone that far No matter where my boots take me I grew up in a small town And I still got one foot on Main Street Jeffrey Straker live at the Broadway Theatre one foot on Main Street

Thank you very much So you, like so many people you're here, you leave, and then you come back. You were living in Toronto for a good chunk of time. Yeah, a good chunk of time. What brought you home? Oh, you know, I sort of mentioned in that first song I sang, it was seeing this place from afar and really coming to really appreciate

a lot of things about it that I simply never saw when I was here, they ultimately drew me back. And I also hadn't found love in Toronto. I was going to say, there's also a love story to that, right? Tell us a love story. Well, I moved back here. And I mean, I, you know, I'm an out gay guy. And I would have thought that in Toronto, the pinkest city in the country, I would have found love, right? Not a chance. So I came back to Saskatchewan. And I met the one, Matt. He's my partner, Michael. He's from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. We've been together for four years. And the geography and the people brought me back and loved keeping me here. And I think, I mean, farming is kind of a sort of a macho occupation. I think I met the only gay farmer in Saskatchewan.

And he's mine. I'm not entirely sure about that, but yes, continue. He's mine. Yeah. You're going to play another song for us to close us out. What are we going to hear from you now? A song I wrote called Sing Your Song. I co-wrote this with Lynn Miles.

from you now. A song I wrote called Sing Your Song. I co-wrote this with Lynn Miles. And it's a song for the dreamers, the hopers, the people who have a vision for making a place better.

I think that describes Saskatchewan people to a T. They have such great dreams and hopes, and I think this tries to sum up part of that encouragement I want to give them to bring all that to life.

Live on stage at the Broadway Theater is Jeffrey Straker. And sing your song. There's a whole world inside this piano It's a kid out exploring play Used to dream of a name on a marquee

But I stopped dreaming those dreams one day There was a fault line between who I once was and who I guess I became Against my will a canyon I filled with wishes, excuses and blame

Looking back through the present light I was only running from myself But I And it's okay to not quite belong Letting down your guard is how to be strong I was so afraid of getting it wrong Even if you think your voice ain't the best That's okay, it's yours, go right ahead

And sing your song Oh, sing your song Oh, sing your song If you told me your dreams I wouldn't judge you Cause I've already stood in those shoes I know what it's like To stand up there alone With everything to lose.

Yeah, a song is a bit like lightning. And there is thunder when you open it wide. It's the gamble you take. You don't know what they'll say. You know you got nowhere to hide. they'll say you know you got nowhere to hide looking back through present life i was only running for myself but i learned it's okay to not quite belong letting down your guard Is how to be strong I was so afraid Of getting it wrong

Even if you think Your voice ain't the best That's okay, it's yours Go right ahead And sing your song Oh, sing your song Yeah, sing your song Yes, sing your song So tell me, are you one who's been waiting?

Is tomorrow where you place in your beds? Keep on reciting those worn out storylines Pretend to know we regret Oh, I learned it's okay to not quite belong Letting down your guard is how to be strong I was so afraid of getting it wrong Even if you think your voice ain't the best That's okay, it's yours, go right ahead

And sing your song Oh, sing your song. It's the pride of Punish Eye, Saskatchewan, Jeffrey Straker. His new album is called Great Big Sky. Thank you so much for being our musical guest.