Jeffery Straker

Jeffery Straker is a Canadian folk/roots singer-songwriter and pianist based in Punnichy, Saskatchewan. He is a classically trained pianist raised by a church-organist mother and auctioneer father, and swears he was born under the piano on the family grain farm in rural Saskatchewan. He started piano lessons with local music teacher Mrs. Vicky Young and was subsequently taught by Dawn MacTavish. Further piano studies were pursued with Frank Crumly at the Conservatory of Music, University of Regina, earning his Licentiate diploma from Trinity College London when he was 19. Straker attended the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, earning a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biology. His piano-based folk/roots musical style has drawn comparisons to Kris Kristofferson, Elton John, Neil Young, and Rufus Wainwright. He grew up listening to country music while studying classical music and performing full sonatas and concertos by composers such as Beethoven and Grieg. The work of fellow Saskatchewan native Joni Mitchell prompted him to begin writing his own material. Jeffery has released 10 albums to date and performs over 100 shows per year across Canada, Europe, and Latin America. He released "Vagabond" in 2012, produced by Danny Michel, with piano tracks recorded at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto using Glenn Gould's Steinway & Sons grand piano. The Toronto Star awarded it 4 out of 4 stars. Recently, he was awarded Roots/Folk Artist of the Year at both the 2020 and 2021 Saskatchewan Music Awards and was named Keyboard Player of the Year three years running at the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards.

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