Saskatchewan born, Orillia, Ontario based musician Zachary Lucky is excited bring a new bluegrass sound to the  Windy City Opry at the Slice, Nov. 13 in support of his new CD “Midwestern.”

 He was last in Lethbridge in 2017 to play the Windy City Opry with Kent McAlister.

“ It’s been too long,” Lucky said, adding his last record “Everywhere A Man Can Be” was released in 2016.
 The new, independently CD has done well. Since it was released in Oct. 18, it has hit the top of the Canadian Folk and Roots Music charts.
“ It’s doing well. It‘s got some good response from people,” he said.

“ As I’m getting older, I’m beginning to see the world a little differently. There has been a lot of big changes in my life that have informed the music,” he said.

“ I’ve been thinking a lot about where I am in life. And what my parents” live was like when they were my age, in Saskatchewan,” he said.
Lucky moved to Toronto, then quickly to Orillia to be closer to his in-laws. Orillia, is north of Toronto and the home of the world famous Mariposa Folk Festival, which is also where he met his partner.

“ There’s a lot of artists and musicians and creators who live in Orillia. I’m surprised it actually doesn’t have a bigger music scene, especially with the Mariposa Folk Festival, which is one of Canada’s oldest folk festivals,” he said.

 

“ Toronto is crazy. It‘s easier to make a living and raise a family in Orillia,” Lucky continued.
 
He is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge.
“ It has been too long. I used to play there quite a lot. Many a time I’ve been talking with the band and we say we should move here. Lethbridge has a lot of good songwriters like John Wort Hannam and Leeroy Stagger and rumour has it Corb Lund is there,” Lucky observed.
 He is excited about the new sounds the band is making.
“I’ve got three musicians with me (fiddle player Josh Showman, upright bassist Mitchell Thomson, dobro Ivan Rosenberg) and we’re all singing around the same microphone like traditional bluegrass musicians do,” he said.
“There‘s no tricks. I wanted the listen to feel like they are sitting around the kitchen table with us. I want the show to sound as close to the record as possible,” he continued.
They just finished the Ontario and Quebec stint of the tour, and are taking a few days off before going out west, beginning with the show at the Slice, then going to Calgary  to play the Ironwood with Colin Linden on Nov. 14.
Zachary Lucky  plays the Windy City Opry, Wednesday, Nov. 13 with host Shaela Miller beginning the show at 8 p.m sharp. There is a $10 cover.