By Will McGuirk

Toronto singer/songwriter Jerry Leger will release his latest album, ‘Time Out for Tomorrow’ Friday Nov 8 2019. He will be at Kops Records in Oshawa for a performance on that date. He will be on at 5 p.m.

Leger has released almost a dozen albums in his career, solo or with his side projects The Del-Fi’s and the Bop-Fi’s, with each album garnering greater interest and opportunities. His work is very much in the tradition of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Graham Parsons and Nick Lowe, all the poets who sang of loss and love and life as it lay on the street like yesterday’s news.

“Time Out for Tomorrow’ is his look at life where it lays and lives today, the title comes from a pulp fiction novel which a friend gave him and it fits he says his mood these days. It is an album of yearning, of leaning, of imagining a bigger world, where peace, love and understanding isn’t so funny at all.

“Well, it's hard to ignore what's been happening politically too but I don't write topical songs. I write based on my feelings towards things and actions.,” he says to slowcity.ca. “There's some social reactions here and there in the songs. Mainly, it's a record with hope and love. I hope I don't have to always deal with the same frustrations, I hope people learn that it takes more energy to be rude, to be unfair. I hope the arts are looked upon as importantly as they really are and all we need is love! right?,”

He speaks on the importance of the arts from his own lived experience. In the album’s press release Leger mentions how a song such as “Cathy’s Clown” by the Everly Brothers can get him out of a depression. And the writing of his own songs can also elevate him he says.

“When I'm writing or sketching I don't think of its healing power in the moment. It's a gradual feeling as you get really into it or when you can take a step back and admire even a feather of something you've done. I don't think you need pain to create but if you're feeling low it does help to just feel like you're doing something. It's the boredom that makes me feel like I'm standing still. Songs are powerful, they can hit you right away. Music has saved me again and again,” he says.

There’s a saviour of a song in “That Ain’t Here” with its Lennon-esgue piano and an arms around the shoulders sing-a-long against hate. It has a slow anthemic beauty, with all the aplomb of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless.”

Leger is fearless too. There is much on this album which could leave him standing in a pile of dropped names. One could sum up many of these tracks on “Time Out for Tomorrow” with shout outs to those street poets (“Read Between the Lines” has an “Idiot Wind” gritted teeth delivery and “Canvas of Gold” would fit nicely in with any set by The Band.) but Leger’s bravery is in taking on these giants and matching them song for song, hit for hit. He may walk the same streets but he leaves his own tracks.

Leger is joined by his band The Situation plus special guests on the album which is produced by Michael Timmins of Cowboy Junkies.

“Tim Bovaconti, who I met when I was 17 and sneaking into bars. He's one of the best musicians around. I remember the first time I heard him play guitar and I was floored. He produced or co-produced my first 6 records. We've worked a lot together and it was great to have him on an album again. Aaron Comeau plays piano on everything except "That Ain't Here", that's me but I can't play the fancy notes. He's another one of those players, like Tim, who can just pick up on things easily and make it sound like he's always played with you. Alan Zemaitis plays the organ like the old guys did, that concoction of passion, feel and skill.”

You could say the same thing about Leger, he plays like the old guys did, that concoction of passion, feel and skill.