"Cara's new record is great, real, and heartfelt - as she is. No fluff or extra notes - just the good stuff!" - Buddy Miller
"I just had the privilege to listen to a few tracks from Cara Luft`s new album "The Light Fantastic." [These tracks] are indeed fantastic and I hope it is not too long before she graces our UK shores!" – Robert Mills, Maverick Magazine (UK)
"This is her time, this is her year and THIS is the album. Ladies and Gentlemen, make room in your music world for Cara Luft. Songwriting as good as any I heard in all of 2006, begins my 2007... and just when you think you've got her style and passion nailed down she busts out in a completely different direction. Take the song Theres a train... it's like a modern day version of Buffalo Springfield's Bluebird... soft, gentle folksy beginning and then 3 minutes in, the song kicks into a rocking finish that stays with you long after the cd is over. And that's just the first track on The Light Fantastic. As I said, make room for Cara Luft...before she kicks your door down!" - Terry David Mulligan - Host, CKUA
“Cara Luft comes from folk singing parents and a lifetime of guitar playing, her rhythm work on acoustic is truly dense, muscularly musical. She rocks. But that’s just a turn of the diamond, as her ballad of the forgotten, Untitled, reveals. She is a deep and funky wonder.” – Frank Goodman – Puremusic (NYC)
"Cara Luft’s simple three-verse “Come All You Sailors” is an elegant example of her ability to take a traditional-sounding theme and turn it into a folk gem." - Jay Votel , World Folk Music Association Quarterly (Washington, DC)
“Cara Luft has pretty much established herself as a leading light amongst the international folk/folk rock fraternities. Despite her obvious love of folk, Luft has a hankering for the life of a rock star, trading Celtic folk influences for nifty rock guitar licks. Add to that Luft’s stunning guitar work, earthy vocals (which are as much suited to the trad material as they are to groove laden indie rock), thoughtful and well crafted lyrics and tunes, and you have a very listenable and highly entertaining folk-rock album.” – Stu Olds – Musicworkz, UK
“Cara's voice, songwriting, guitar playing, energy, passion, fire, sense of humor, and zest for life make her a great addition to any festival lineup.” – Rick Fenton – former Artistic Director, Winnipeg Folk Festival
“Cara Luft's been listening to the right stuff way out there in Canada... She shows an abiding love of good old Brit trad and a canny way of writing her own remarkable folk rock grooves. On the up escalator for sure.” – Simon Jones – fRoots Magazine, UK
Sounds Like
A bit of Carole King meets early Zeppelin with a dash of Sigur Ros
Strumming since the age of four, and singing since she can remember, Cara Luft brings an ease and grace to the stage seldom seen in this age of fast fame and virtual presence.
Spending her first nine months bathed in the resonant thump of her mother's Martin D-18, she was raised in a house and community vibrant with folk music and musicians. Her great-grandfather was a vaudevillian tenor, her grandfather a jazz/big band guitarist and music teacher, her mother and aunt performed professionally in their teens, her parents as a duo – these roots inform and charge Cara's musical being, and underscore her depth and commitment to music, to song, and to the vital sharing of her gifts through soulful performances.
A powerfully elegant guitarist, Cara favours a variety of open tunings and also enjoys branching out into mandolin and clawhammer banjo. Her writing is a blend of social commentary, imagination, and rhythmic intensity, and her distinctive voice penetrates listeners to the core. In performance she balances pathos with joy, telling invariably hilarious stories between poignant songs, often while effortlessly managing complex retunings of her guitar.
In 2002, Cara joined forces with two other female artists to form the Wailin' Jennys. Along with a third of the songwriting duties, she was the instrumental anchor and a major contributor to their renowned vocal harmony arrangements. She earned the epithet “Jenny Van Halen” being known as much for her vibrant comical demeanor as for her powerful guitar playing. Two Jennys' albums resulted, the second of which, 40 Days, was awarded a Juno Award for Best Roots Album (Group) in 2005. Her decision to follow her own muse was taken after three years of touring and recording with the trio, finding she needed to honour her core beliefs and views. The body of work that is The Light Fantastic is a testament to the wisdom of this difficult choice and is receiving strong critical praise and listener response, live and on record.
With an insatiable thirst for touring and performing, Cara reaches out to people in that magical, wonderful way that music does, from beginning of show to final encore.
The Light Fantastic marks Cara's welcome return to the solo trail. A set of songs written during nearly a year long post-Jennys sabbatical, they cover topics ranging from her annoyance with trite lifestyles (Give it Up) to deep spiritual reflection (Jerusalem) and imaginative exploration (The Light). She chose Canadian rock star Neil Osborne to produce the album, relying upon his experience in that genre to bring a fresh slant to folk recording. Bringing together a group of seasoned Canadian folk and roots musicians to form a solid basic ensemble, laying down the main tracks live “off the floor” gives the songs a life and vitality that is unparalleled. Filling the sound out with violin, viola, pedal steel, tablas, and a wide range of vocal harmony, the album was mixed by renowned mix engineer Warne Livesey, and mastered by the sensitive genius Joao Carvalho. The Light Fantastic is a cornucopia of sonic delight, lighting the path to reaching the vast reservoir of soulful intensity that is Cara Luft.
Really enjoyed your set at Brightlingsea free music festival. And have been enjoying your CD. Hope to see you again when you come back to the UK for your tour. Happy gigging. xxx
Just a reminder to listen to CARA LUFT on THIS GREAT WHITE NORTH. It's an ALL CANADIAN music show FRIDAYS 4:30-6pm CST on 91.7 KOOP FM in Austin, Texas. You can listen online at www.KOOP.org.
Iris xxx
