We recently caught up for a chat with Jerry Leger (Baker's Dozen Interview) as the Canadian singer and songwriter had just released an EP of cover tunes. As it turns out, Jerry was keeping busy, as prior to a UK tour which kicks off in High Wycombe on May 8th, he has another EP, this time of self-penned material set for release on April 28th entitled ‘The Time Flew By’. This EP consists of cuts that he couldn’t squeeze onto previous albums for reasons such as the flow and the overall feel of the record, which is a pretty refreshing approach when many artists seem obsessed with single tracks. You can check out the video for the title track from the EP below, where you will also find the tour schedule.
May 8 - Kingsmead House Concert, High Wycombe
May 9 - Green Note, London
May 10 - Running Horse, Nottingham
May 11 – Old Cinema Launderette, Durham
May 12 – St. Mary's Creative Space, Chester
May 13 – The Glynne Arms, Hawarden
May 14 – House Concert, Sheffield
May 16 - Spirit Store (backroom), Dundalk
May 17 - The Court House, Bangor
May 18 - The Doublet, Glasgow
May 20 - TAIGH Festival - Glen Dye Estate Strachan, Aberdeenshire
May 21 - Leith Depot, Edinburgh
The Time Flew By EP features an outtake from each album Leger has made on Latent Recordings, including last year's Nothing Pressing. Pre-save: https://eek.lnk.to/JLTTFB
“These are top shelf songs; they weren’t left off the albums because of their quality. Deciding which tracks make up an album can be very difficult and tricky. You have to take into account flow and cohesion. Sometimes the best songs are the ones that don’t make the final cut”
Notes by Jerry Leger on The Time Flew By EP to be released on April 28:
“Mean Payola” - This was recorded for last year's album Nothing Pressing but didn't fit. It's a cool track and I wanted to get a kind of “Runaway” (Del Shannon) keyboard sound in the break but we got something different. I like to look at this as an update of Neil Young's “Payola Blues”, though I hope it has the opposite effect. Radio has always been best when the DJs get to play what they want. As I sing in the song, I need someone like Wolfman Jack to play my records and help save me from obscurity!
“We're A Mess” - An outtake from 2014's Early Riser, this is one that I dusted off and wondered why it didn't go on the record. Maybe I thought it was too much of a downer (I was in a low place when I wrote it) but realistically, you have to pick and choose 'cause they all can't go on the album. This is definitely a personal favourite of mine and I love the recording.
“What Baby Wants” - From the “Nonsense” sessions for 2017's Nonsense and Heartache. I had forgotten about this version but it's ferocious! We also recorded a piano led version for “Heartache” and eventually I gave it to my side project The Del Fi's. It came out on the second Del Fi's album, Residuals, pretty close to the “Heartache” arrangement.
“And The Time Flew By” - We tried this for 2019's Time Out For Tomorrow but it didn't seem to live in that world of songs. It always felt special to me though, so I kept it in the back of my mind. The title came from a repeated phrase in a Kurt Vonnegut book I was reading. It sort of became a cross between Tom Waits' “Martha” and an old country-gospel end-of-life of song.
