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Lucky launches new recording

Yorkton music fans will know the name Zachary Lucky from his shows at the old 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer. And, of course the Saskatoon based folksinger has family ties to the area as the grandson of the well-known Smilin’ Johnnie of Wroxton.

Yorkton music fans will know the name Zachary Lucky from his shows at the old 5th Avenue Cup & Saucer.

And, of course the Saskatoon based folksinger has family ties to the area as the grandson of the well-known Smilin’ Johnnie of Wroxton.

Lucky has been in Toronto this weekend for the release of a new album, one which took some time to come about.

Entitled ‘Midwestern’ the latest album has taken almost exactly three years to come together after Lucky’s last recording.

“It’s been about three years now, almost to the day,” Lucky said in a telephone interview with Yorkton This Week Friday, just hours before his recording launch in Toronto. “Three years seems to be me, no matter how hard I try to get one out in two years, it stretches out to a third.”

And, Lucky said his time is at more of a premium these days, with a partner and two children, who have changed his life dramatically.

“Things have definitely changed the last five years, I met my partner and have mixed kids into it. There’s not as much time is the reality of it.”

There was also a desire to get the latest effort just right.

“I really wanted to make sure it was a set of songs I was happy with and sometimes that takes a bit longer,” said Lucky.

While admitting it might be a tad clichéd in the sense everybody says their latest recording is their best, in his case he does believe “it’s some of the best.”

That might come from maturity as a songwriter, as age does change perspective, not that Lucky is not proud of earlier material.

“I see songs I wrote in my 20s, that are still saying something,” he said.

That said Lucky said he does think being older has gave him perspective in terms “of what words I’m putting in a song.”

Family has of course impacted Lucky’s view of his world.

“I have a clearer vision of what I want in my life,” he said, adding it’s about family now. “That is the biggest thing. It’s really not about me anymore.”

Lucky said he is definitely aware that he has children who need him, that while the road calls to him to play music, there are two young people who need a father to help mold them. He said he wants them to be Zachary 2.0.

“I want them to be a better version of me,” he said.

Lucky’s life may have changed, but he says it is definitely for the better. He still has his music that he loves, but the road trips are now shorter, with a family to go home to.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve a life like this,” he said, adding it has all taken some adjusting too when he thinks about it.

“I literally never thought I’d own a house, or buy a car. Those things never entered the equation for me.”

Of course the music remains near essential in the life of a musician who has spent years touring North America and Europe. Lucky knows he has never quite broken into the big time, but he’s not sure he’d want that.

“It’s been a slow but steady thing,” he said, adding he is appreciative of everyone who has supported his music through the years.

As for breaking big, Lucky said he knows musicians who have done that.

“I really don’t know if I’d want that. I’m just happy to get dinner and a floor to sleep on.”

You can find Lucky on Facebook, including under his label Wroxton Recordings, or www.zacharylucky.com for physical copies of the latest recording, or digitally at places such as zacharylucky.bandcamp.com