Alberta singer-songwriter Leeroy Stagger has released his new single “Jesus And Buddha”, a meditation on faith and impermanence set to electric guitars. The track follows previous singles “Strange Attractor” + “Deeper Well” and comes just ahead of the release of his new album Strange Path out this Friday September 13 via True North Records.
Stagger shares: “If Jesus were to come back, I suppose he might be a little more than disheartened to see his teachings completely twisted into some sort of perverted version of morality and judgement.The teachings of the Buddha seem to strike a chord with me. The Idea that we are all suffering makes sense to me, some of us more than others. The impermanence of it all! I don’t know, maybe it’s just my way of coping out of my fear, but for some reason I take great comfort that nothing lasts.”
While the Strange Path album tempo is upbeat and breezy, underneath its surface is a story of survival and moving forward. Stagger reflects on his past, declaring in the song’s first verse “I’ve been a fighter all my life.” A veritable self-help book pulled from a lifetime of struggling towards the light and brimming with the hard-won joy at the heart of his recent renaissance, it’s an album of sharp hooks and sharper insights, a statement on loss, forgiveness, pain, faith, The Clash, Gord Downie, love, death, fear, letting go, higher powers, Mother Earth, obsession, redemption, and the path we all walk through life. In support of the record, Stagger will head out on tour throughout North America and internationally. Tour dates listed below + here.
In making Strange Path, Leeroy surrounded himself with some of the best players in the business, including drummer Pete Thomas (Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Elliot Smith, Los Lobos), longtime collaborator Tyson Maiko, Paul Rigby (Neko Case, Garth Hudson, Jakob Dylan), Ryland Moranz and Michael Ayotte. The album was mixed by five time GRAMMY winner Ryan Freeland (Ray LaMontagne, Bonnie Raitt, Rodney Crowell) and Brad Barr of The Barr Brothers shared producer’s chair with Leeroy on four of the eleven tracks.
Leeroy Stagger | Upcoming North American Tour Dates
9/10: Syracuse, NY @ House Concert
9/11: Burnstown, ON @ Neat Cafe
9/12: Toronto, ON @ The Horseshoe
9/14: Lethbridge, AB @ Coulee Festival
10/13: Los Angeles, CA @ The Mint
10/15: San Francisco, CA @ Hotel Utah
10/16: Sacramento, CA @ Fiest Wines
10/17: Portland, OR @ White Eagle
10/18: Vancouver, BC @ Fox Theatre
10/20: Victoria, BC @ Capitol Theatre
10/21: Parksville, BC @ Bayside Resort