By herself, again
Cara Luft lets her creativity loose on The Light Fantastic
Jen Zoratti

When Cara Luft announced that she was leaving The Wailin’ Jennys to pursue a solo career in 2004 — just six months after the release of the breakthrough album 40 Days — the surprising departure left the Canadian folk scene scratching its collective head.

Why, after all, would anyone want to turn her back on a buzz band that was headed for success?

It turns out Luft had plenty of reasons.

Though the Calgary-born singer, songwriter and guitarist co-founded the group with Nicky Mehta and Ruth Moody in 2002, she was beginning to feel as if she didn’t have a voice in the trio. While recording 40 Days, Luft’s feeling of creative displacement was intensified, raising a red flag that signalled it was time to move on.

“There wasn’t a lot of room for me to contribute who I am creatively to the band, and I felt that I was relegated to a support position,” Luft says over a Sunday-morning coffee on a Corydon patio. “The idea was that each of us would be an equal third, but I felt that I had to fight to be heard.

“It was a hard decision because you could see money and fame, but it was also becoming a lot about image as opposed to substance, creatively — a lot of icing and not enough cake, you could say.

“Even though it was never said, ‘No, you’re not welcome,’ when you’re working in a trio there’s that inevitable pair-off. Creatively, I felt like I was going to suffocate and die a slow death. It was like fitting into a very tight dress.”

Still, arriving at the decision to ditch the Jennys after two albums was not an easy one for Luft.

“I think I just honestly thought I could bring who I was to the table,” she says. “It really hurt to come to the realization that I just didn’t fit. There was definitely a grieving process, but it was the healthy thing to do.

“When I left, songs started coming out again and I finally had some room. The result was a whole bunch of songs that never would have gotten played in the other configuration.”

Tapping into a newfound thirst for her own writing, Luft began readying what would become her sophomore solo outing, The Light Fantastic. Working with an impressive cast of Canadian rock and folk players that included producer Neil Osborne (54-40), violist/fiddler Richard Moody (The Bills), drummer/percussionist Christian Dugas (Madrigaïa), multi-instrumentalist Hugh McMillan (Spirit of the West) and mixing engineer Warne Livesey (Matthew Good), Luft says she found an environment in which she could thrive.

“This record was the most positive experience I have ever had,” she says. “I had a lot of big-name people, yet it was the most relaxed and fun recording experience I’ve ever had — and I think that shows through on the record.”

Released in March, The Light Fantastic is a stirring collection of songs that playfully alter the definition of folk music. It’s a gritty, captivating landscape for Luft’s emotive lyrics, and it’s proof that she’ll be just fine as a solo artist.

“I left room to be surprised on this one,” she says. “I don’t think I was so precise in the beginning that it meant there was no room for movement. I think you need to have that room for those unexpected creative outbursts.”