Folk songman Steve Palmer will be the April 26 performer at Legacy Guitar and Coffee House.
From his Moose Jaw stomping grounds, Palmer has been touting his Jan. 2014 release, Prairie Airs, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as he continues his year long album roll-out.
“There’s definitely a prairie theme on the album — it was recorded in Winnipeg, Moose Jaw and in Edmonton,” said the music man of his fourth release, whose journey is in its 48th year.
Self-produced, rooted in folk and country, the album boasts 15 tracks — eight originals and seven covers, including songs by The Carter Family, Stompin’ Tom and Merle Travis.
For the last 10 years Palmer has charted his own course, mainly playing as a solo showman, accompanied only by his acoustic six and 12-string guitars.
“I always thought I would do a record when everything was perfect. It finally dawned on me nothing is ever perfect,” said the guitarist, who incorporates both Carter and Travis finger picking styles into his playing.
“It opens up the right hand a lot,” said Palmer, referring to ‘Carter-style’ picking — also known as the ‘thumb brush technique’, where the melody is played on the bass strings and the rhythmic strumming continues on the strings above.
Following some four decades of going to work with blues and country bands and living the road life of a full-time musician, Palmer said it was time for a change.
Born and raised in Edmonton, relocated to Vancouver Island and finally finding his way to Moose Jaw, Sask., Palmer began reaching out to singer/songwriter circles, delving into the roots music that inspired him to begin playing so many years before and exploring his depths as a songwriter.
In traditional folk fashion he writes about universal observations — driving songs, songs about love lost and being a Canadian, as well as the themes that flow through his own life.
“I think I wrote that one back in the seventies,” he said, referring to the track ‘Morning Song’. “It was bouncing around in my head and finally I decided to get it down.”
The album features cello and mandolin, fiddle and keys and even string quartet arrangements.
Audience members can anticipate an evening of storytelling, a mix of originals and classics spiced with instrumentals.
Learn more at spmusic.ca.
