Originally from Calgary, musician, artist and community builder L.T. Leif has spent more than a decade living in far-flung lands: first Fin-, then Ice-, before eventually settling in Scot-. An open-hearted musical collaborator whose projects include beloved Calgary bands the Consonant C (with members of Hermitess and Raleigh, also appearing at this year’s festival), OK Jazz, Embassylights and Hex Ray to name a few, Leif has continued to collect co-conspirators in each of their new locales. More importantly though, the farther they’ve roamed the more room they’ve found to discover themself.

Ever inquisitive, Leif’s earlier songs described household pets, inanimate objects and cult TV shows with a profound mix of playfulness and empathy. Since leaving Calgary they’ve turned that eye inward, asking difficult questions and refusing to settle for simple answers. Their music has grown equally singular: rooted in folk, often built around hypnotic melodies played on their trusty ukulele, but fractured by strange textures and bursts of noise. Leif has always favoured the rough-hewn and handmade, and their music is the same: inviting, imaginative, but always wild at heart.

Whether performing alone or joined on stage by friends old and new, Leif’s Calgary homecoming will inevitably be another collaboration – with their fellow musicians, with an audience invited to look at themselves with the same unflinching honesty, and with the selves past and present that have brought them to this point.

- Peter Hemminger