Former hairdresser Leeroy Stagger sets fire to his musical past

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Leeroy Stagger National Tour Launch with Jon Gant & Lorrie Matheson
Palomino
Friday, May 22 - Friday, May 22

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Some music is made for the open road.

You can hear the difference between touring musicians who hop from gig to gig by plane and those who spend their time at the wheel of a van. It manifests itself in their music, like these artists are subconsciously writing the mixtape for their next road trip. Everything is Real, the latest outing from Leeroy Stagger, is loaded with those songs. With its alt-country flavour and geographic allusions, the album has an undeniable sense of motion. According to the liner notes, lead track “Petrified World” was even written in the back of a moving van, barrelling down the Nevada interstate.

“I was on a three-month U.S. tour with an American songwriter called Matt Hopper,” says Stagger, who not surprisingly is fielding questions via cellphone at the wheel of his car. “My girlfriend was driving, so we spent a couple hours working on this tune and we got a couple verses…. That was the first time I really tried to do anything like that and I think it kind of paid off pretty well.”

Stagger’s assessment is an understatement. With easygoing drive and more than a hint of 1980s-era Bruce Springsteen, the song is a literal and emotional journey that sets the tone for the whole album.

“There’s something about travelling for anybody,” he says. “When you’re by yourself, in transit, you kind of grow as a person, whether it be through reading or experiencing different culture. It sneaks into your subconscious whether you like it or not. I don’t set out to write songs about the road or anything like that. This is my life, so, realistically, it’s going to seep in there.”

There’s no doubt that Stagger has racked up his fair share of travel miles. Professionally, he’s toured Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Personally, he relocated from Victoria, B.C. to the Prairie splendour of Lethbridge, Alberta to be able to afford those tours. His latest album taps these experiences for lyrical content, but the musical journey that Stagger has made over his last few releases is just as interesting.

He has always idolized Steve Earle, and that has been reflected in his music with a wry tone and gravelly delivery. On Everything is Real, Stagger has diversified his voice, taking inspiration from other rock heavyweights like Tom Petty and the aforementioned Springsteen.

“I’m influenced by a lot of pop music from the 1980s and 1990s, and sometimes that’s kind of embarrassing,” he explains. “That wasn’t cool, but now all of a sudden fucking Born in the U.S.A. is the coolest record again…. Bands like the Hold Steady and Gaslight Anthem — they’re kind of playing the kind of music I’ve been playing for years, and I’m still not cool.”

Fashionable or not, Stagger has found a level of comfort in his music that supercedes any arbitrary hipster quotient. Songs like “Sleep Alone” and “Red Bandana” are given the chance to breathe, while the title track rolls along in fuzzed-out bliss. Best of all, he isn’t bound by any self-conscious filtering. He’s not afraid to take aim at his troubled past, as he does on “Hell of a Life.” More tellingly, songs like “Snowing in Nashville” rage quietly against the state of modern music

“I don’t think the record really specifies that, but that is definitely an underlying tone with my psyche,” he says. “I’m just fucking sick of the industry to be quite honest with you. There is so much fucking doom and gloom. And the news is always [about how] sales have totally dissipated and all these labels are folding, [but] it’s their own goddamn fault for putting out shitty music for so long. It was bound to happen.”

Everything is Real doesn’t offer up a new, foolproof business model, but the roadworthiness of all the songs indicates that Stagger has his own plan — make good music and then get back out on the road so people can hear it.

“There’s this blue collar ethic to being a musician now, and it really separates the people who have just been given opportunities from the people who work for opportunities,” he says. “If you’re good and talented and make great art, eventually you will do well. The days of superstardom are gone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a living at it.”