Terra Lightfoot learns from her New Mistakes

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This article was published 22/02/2018 (3015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you’ve been keeping close tabs on the Olympics on CBC, there’s a good chance you’ve heard Terra Lightfoot.

On Day 1, the gritty, bluesy track Paradise from her new album, New Mistakes, soundtracked the day’s highlight reel from the national broadcaster.

Ironically, that version of the track barely made it on the album at all, but thanks to Lightfoot’s persistence and the support of producer Gus van Go, her last-minute, revamped version (which included a new verse and chorus) was the one that made the cut.

“So now I’m like, ‘Yesss! Paradise was the right decision,’ and Gus and I feel very validated together,” she laughs.

Tonight, Lightfoot makes her third stop in Winnipeg in less than a year — she played Interstellar Rodeo in August and returned as an opener for Whitehorse in October — in support of New Mistakes, an album she says was inspired by both her never-ending time on the road over the past two years as well as the idea of getting out of crippling routines that only allow for the same mistakes to be made over and over again.

“I was realizing that I was getting stuck in patterns in my life, and everybody does, we all have patterns of comfort and things that we’re used to that we don’t want to stray from. And I’m learning in my own personal life how to kind of get away from that and try some new things, get out of my comfort zone, and making New Mistakes was a huge, necessary part of that,” Lightfoot says.

“The smallest things that we change can sometimes have the biggest impact, and I mean it was also… I don’t know, being on the road so much, this record is fully a road record, so I was never home when I was writing these songs. But I think the record was just about being comfortable where you’re at and forgiving yourself and allowing yourself to make these new mistakes because those are what help you grow.”

And Lightfoot is growing — her songwriting on New Mistakes has noticeably matured from her already-solid 2015 release, Every Time My Mind Runs Wild, ­especially evident in her softer moments such as the stunning You Get High. It’s still very much a folk-rock record (emphasis on the rock), but there’s a warmth and wit that gives New Mistakes some real legs to stand on.

Lightfoot attributes her development as a writer to turning the focus wholly inward and not only learning who she is as her most authentic self, but accepting it and using it to her advantage.

“I think what I’ve figured out on this record, which was huge for me, was paying attention to who I am authentically; finding my authentic self and my authentic voice, because we don’t focus on that a lot. A lot of times we’re trying to live up to other people’s expectations or be like somebody else and the most important thing for me on this record, that helped me, was realizing that I am who I am and I’m probably not going to change and I should just write from my own views, what I think is good,” she says.

“Of course, I’ve been mentored by so many insanely amazing songwriters, and that helps too. And I try to pay that back to young songwriters whenever I can.”

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @NireRabel