Home for a rest
Luke Doucet takes a break from his busy schedule for two nights at the Times Change(d)
Jen Zoratti

“I’m terrified to play Winnipeg.”

That’s a strange admission from someone who grew up here, but alt-country/bluesman Luke Doucet is indeed jittery in advance of his upcoming two-night stand in the ’Peg.

“It’s always weird to play there,” Doucet says. “It’s family. It’s the community I came from. Also, the standards in Winnipeg are frighteningly high. Honestly, I’d be more relaxed playing Madison Square Garden than the Times Change(d).”

Nevertheless, Doucet and the D. Rangers will be jamming it out at the roots-and-blues haunt, and perhaps the road-weary singer/songwriter truly needs a few nights in the friendly atmosphere of Times. After all, the 33-year-old guitar-slinger spent most of past year in the van, criss-crossing the continent in support of 2005’s Broken (And Other Rogue States).

“It’s been a trying year for me,” Doucet says. “I’ve clocked 60,000 miles on my van. It was like old-school touring, very Get in the Van, city to city. It brings back a lot of nostalgia, but when you’re 18 you’re more cut out for that lifestyle.”

In addition to the hardcore touring schedule, the Vancouver-born, Wolseley-raised Doucet hit the summer festival circuit, played gigs at South by Southwest and Canadian Music Week, and was nominated for a Juno. It’s hard to believe that the guy had time to get hitched (he married singer/songwriter Melissa McClelland in summer) and move to Nashville.

Playing Winnipeg might be nerve-wracking, but in a year that was riddled with change coming home will give Doucet a chance to regroup. Even though his sophomore solo album is only a year old, this cowboy doesn’t spend too much time looking back. He’s characteristically hard on himself, especially when it comes to writing new songs.

“It ebbs and flows, the creativity,” Doucet says. “Sometimes I let myself off the hook and think, ‘It will come when it does.’ Then sometimes I wake up and think that’s hippie bullshit and that I should be working really hard at it.

“I think having a specific purpose is an asset,” he continues. “I take that very seriously. My last record was the same song 12 times over. Telling other stories and other people’s stories, that’s where I’m hoping to go.”

Perhaps Doucet’s work ethic comes from the fact that music has been his livelihood for nearly 20 years. Whether he’s been a musician-for-hire (working with the likes of Blue Rodeo and Sarah MacLachlan), the swaggering frontman for West Coast riff-rock band Veal or a lone-wolf troubadour, every incarnation of Doucet has walked the same fine line between making art and making money.

“When I was 15, I was already playing at the Bella Vista for pizza and beer,” Doucet says. “My father was this blue-collar romantic leftie, and he always stressed the important and significance of working. He used to say to me, ‘Always have a gig.’ I was driven by that idea. I always wanted to be musically employed.

“Now, I’m more concerned with making music that’s needed. That’s a bit self-important, but I look at my record collection and say, ‘What’s missing?’”

However, Doucet isn’t in a big hurry to fill any musical voids at the moment. Right now, he wants to take a break from following the yellow line to follow his mind.

“I want to slow down and try to be more creative,” he says. “When you’re on the road supporting a record, it shifts from playing music, which is great, to promoting a product, which is not so great.

“And when you’re flying too much or driving too much or drinking too much or whatever the fuck you’re doing, you start to resent the road. I need to be an artist again.”