Hey gang, Happy release day! Our new live EP Live From Paradise can now be streamed/downloaded on your preferred platform: https://ffm.to/jerrylegerlfp Next Friday, it will be available to stream/download from our Bandcamp store in time for another Bandcamp Friday.
Paradise Theatre, May 31st, 2022 ended up being our first hometown (Toronto) show since Lee’s Palace, November, 2019 and we were grateful to see a packed house in still uncertain times. So much had happened since then, including a new album, Nothing Pressing and a change in the band lineup after more than a decade. Fresh off of a 5-week European/UK tour, we had multiple things to celebrate and wanted to properly capture it.
The EP ends up taking a live performance from a song off of each album we’ve released on Cowboy Junkies’ label, Latent Recordings. They all have evolved and continue to evolve in a live setting. We hope you enjoy!
WATCH “Corner Light” live from Paradise, shot by Mitch Fillion (Southern Souls) with Zach Nash: https://youtu.be/d4D0a6nOBlg
Hey folks, Happy to announce that we’ll be releasing a new EP, Live From Paradise comes out January 27th. Pre-save/add: https://ffm.to/jerrylegerlfp
Recorded live at Paradise Theatre in Toronto, May 31st, 2022.This performance ended up being our first hometown (Toronto) show since Lee’s Palace, November, 2019 and we were grateful to see a packed house in still uncertain times. So much had happened since then, including a new album, Nothing Pressing and a change in the band lineup after more than a decade. Fresh off of a 5-week European/UK tour, we had multiple things to celebrate and wanted to properly capture it.
SHOW NEWS: This March, I’ll be playing some special solo shows in Ontario. Sellers & Newel in Toronto have been putting on really cool intimate shows. Almost like a house show, if you’ve ever been to one of those. I want to take that opportunity to only play new and unreleased songs. I’m also happy to play Jethro’s, a cool newish pub in Peterborough and return to the lovely Old Church Theatre in Trenton. More shows to be added.
Well, here we are, another year has ended. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t another hard one but I feel very grateful and fortunate at what we were able to do and accomplish. Thank you all for supporting and listening.
I would first like to remind everyone that our 30% OFF sale in the online store will end January 1st. If you’d like to add to your collection or pick up an album/merch for someone you think would dig it: http://jerryleger.com/merch/
This kind of support has helped so much the last few years. Thank you so much.
Thank you to Rolling Stone (Germany), Sounds & Books (Germany), Great Dark Wonder (US/CAN), Gubberock (Norway), Say It With Garage Flowers (UK),Hakan Pop (Sweden), Gravel Road 76 (Spain) and others for including Nothing Pressing in their “Best Albums of 2022” lists. It also made Rolling Stone editor Arne Willander’s Top 10 of the year(at #4, with one of my favourites of the year, Elvis Costello & The Imposters’ The Boy Named If at #1). I also noticed that it made a lot of listeners/fans personal “top albums of 2022” lists around the world. That means so much, thank you for listening and glad the album spoke to you.
Thank you to Bill Kelly at Underground Garage SiriusXM (US), Maik Bruggemeyer at Rolling Stone (Germany), Douglas McLean at Great Dark Wonder (US/CAN) and Jose at Vinilo FM (Spain) for choosing the single “Have You Ever Been Happy?” as one of the best of the year. Also, to Gerard Otremba at Sounds & Books (Germany) for picking “Kill It With Kindness”.
Nothing Pressing was released to acclaim from such publications such as Uncut, Globe & Mail, Rolling Stone Germany, and was followed by a 5-week tour of Europe and the UK (our first time on the road since 2019). Though we still had the extra stress of trying to stay as safe as possible due to COVID, we enjoyed it so much. The tour included our first string of shows in Spain plus sold out shows in Groningen, London and Trondheim. Upon our return home, we played a packed Paradise Theatre in Toronto and I played a few acoustic shows throughout Ontario. It felt amazing to play our last show of the year at the beautiful Danforth Music Hall with our friends Skydiggers for their holiday show.
Jerry Leger & The Situation open the annual Skydiggers Christmas show at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto on December 23, 2022
I apologize that our Canadian tours had to be cancelled. With the high costs of vehicle rentals, hotels, gas, etc…it just made it impossible. I hope we hit the Trans Canada Highway again some day soon.
Great Dark Wonder chose my June acoustic duo performance (with Dan Mock on upright bass/vocals) in Hamilton, ON as one of the best live shows of the year. Gubberock listed the full band show in Oslo this past Spring for their “best of” list.
This year also marked a first for me, we recorded a couple of Holiday songs. One, an original I wrote called “Christmas Without You” and a cover of The Kinks great “Father Christmas”. Thanks to all those who listened and played these tracks. It was fun to do and I’m glad it connected with some of you at this time of year. Bryan Williston at Spill Magazine had some kinds words for it in his “Best Christmas release”.
I hope all of you are having a great holiday season and please have a very safe and Happy New Year. We have a lot in store for 2023, including EP releases, live videos, tour dates and we’ll also be recording a new album!
Hey gang, Hope you are all having a nice December so far. I’m really looking forward to playing a special solo in-store show at Kops Records (Oshawa location) this coming Saturday, December 17th. Will McGuirk has really been doing some cool things at Kops, with a recent in-store show from Jim Bryson as well as supporting the local Oshawa scene. If you’re in the area, please stop by, and pick up a few records while you’re there.
Thanks to all those who have been listening to my new holiday singles. I’ve included them and many favourites by other artists in a collection I’ve curated called “A Very Jerry Christmas and Holiday Spotify Playlist”. You’ll hear festive tunes from The Staple Singers, Nick Lowe, Bob Dylan, Jerry Butler, Ron Sexsmith, Skydiggers, The Drifters, Elvis, Big Star, Merle Haggard and much more. Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Fag1QqPTuaJQ2metPBASf?si=fae0d07263b04a2a
We’re very excited to announce that we’ll be performing at the Tall Pines Festival this June in Gravenhurst, ON. Early bird tickets now on sale: https://tallpines.frontgatetickets.com/ More info to follow including schedule.
In other show announcements, I’ll be playing a special solo in-store at Kops Records (Oshawa location), Friday, December 17th. I love playing shows surrounded by records.
CHECK THIS OUT: This Friday is another edition of Bandcamp Friday, when all sales revenue goes directly to the artist. This is something that is still helping a lot of us. Thank you so much for your support. To say thanks, everything in the Bandcamp store will be 30% OFF (Friday only). The timing is great, since we’re now able to add our Latent Recordings (Cowboy Junkies-owned label that we’ve been signed to since 2013) catalog, including the current album, Nothing Pressing (previously only Early Riser was for sale in the Bandcamp store). Oh, and our new Holiday singles will be set as a pay-what-you-can to stream/download. Please note that the Latent catalog won’t be added until the sale begins at 9am (EST) tomorrow. https://jerryleger.bandcamp.com/merch Use discount code: 30off2022
If you miss the Bandcamp Friday-only sale, everything is also 30% OFF (excluding Nothing Pressing) until the end of the year in the official online store.: http://jerryleger.com/merch/
Our holiday single “Christmas Without You” / “Father Christmas” (Kinks cover) is out today! You can stream/download them via your preferred platform: https://ffm.to/jerrylegerholiday
ONLINE STORE SALE!
We’re having a holiday sale in the official online store! 30% OFF EVERYTHING (excluding Nothing Pressing) until the end of the year. Start browsing the aisles: http://jerryleger.com/merch/
Hey folks, I’m very excited to announce that we’ll be releasing two Christmas songs on Friday. One I composed, which is titled “Christmas Without You”. It’s a song about missing a loved one during the holidays, which I think most of us can relate to. I know this time of year brings back a lot of joyful but bittersweet memories. For me, I find these kind of songs comforting.
The other song is our version of “Father Christmas”, written by Ray Davies and originally recorded by The Kinks. It’s a great rock ‘n’ roll number, pure energy with fantastic lyrics. I love the humor in it but there’s also the seriousness of what the holidays can be like for some less fortunate. The band and I really bash this one out!
Both songs are produced by Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) and you can pre-save/add via your preferred streaming platform: https://ffm.to/jerrylegerholiday
I’ll be playing a special solo show Thurs, Nov 10th at my favourite restaurant, Leslie Jones, located in the Leslieville area of Toronto. I’ll perform Nothing Pressing from start to finish plus older and brand new tunes. Spots are limited, so dinner reservations are strongly recommended: https://www.lesliejones.ca/make-a-reservation/
Looking for some spooky sounds to play while dishing out to the trick r treaters or you just wanna scare yourself? Check out Hank Holly’s Halloween Music, produced by yours truly: BANDCAMP: https://thedelfis.bandcamp.com/album/halloween-music
Hey folks, Hope you are all keeping well. We’re very excited to finally announce that we’ll be playing with our good friends Skydiggers at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, Friday, December 23rd. Tickets are going fast, grab ’em here: https://www.ticketmaster.ca/event/10005B55E8A82845
In other news… There’s a great new “noir detective fiction with post-WWII history” book called ‘The Man From Mittelwerk’ written by M. Z. Urlocker (twin brothers Michael & Zach) out now. It was very neat to read a fictionalized version of our side project, The Del Fi’s and myself as characters in this novel.
I remember a few years ago, they had mentioned that a few tunes from my 2017 double album Nonsense and Heartache had acted as some inspiration for a book they were working on. As a companion to the novel, they have created a Spotify playlist, which includes these songs. Check it out here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0cRXmtm8KVUFyBQh0cFv5U?si=1c7582b88d834c0f
‘The Man From Mittelwerk’ is available via Audible, Chapters, selected local book stores and Amazon: https://amzn.to/3L5qCff
Book description: 1950. The Cold War simmers, and ex-GI Jack Waters is called in to investigate a fatal accident at a research lab in California. When Waters recognizes the victim, he realizes he must revisit his hidden past in World War II to solve a murder and prevent Nazi scientists from creating a terrible, new weapon in America. Blending noir detective fiction with post-WWII history, The Man from Mittelwerk builds from the facts of Operation Paperclip, the U.S. government’s secret recruitment of 1,600 top Nazi scientists, to pose a dark what-if scenario.
*Due to unforeseen circumstances, Dan and I can’t play Peterborough tonight opening for Elliott BROOD. Their show will still be happening at Historic Red Dog though
*To cheer things up, we’ve added the film I made last year ‘The Apartment Show He Never Gave’ to our YouTube channel. Initially it was only available to Newsletter Subscribers for a limited time but hey, it would really lift my spirits today if you subscribed to the YouTube channel and Newsletter, if you haven’t already. Onwards and upwards!