DAVID FRANCEY at Hugh’s Room (2261 Dundas West), Thursday and Friday (September 29 and 30), 8:30 pm. $25-$27.50. HR. See listing.
David Francey didn’t quit working in construction until he won a Juno for 2001’s Far End Of Summer. (He’s since picked up two more.) The Scottish-Canadian singer/songwriter used to miss his crew but now calls his career change a godsend.
“Boy, it’s hard on the body,” says Francey. “Six months after I quit construction, I woke up and said to my wife, Beth, ‘I don’t hurt. There isn’t one part of my body that hurts.’ That was the first time in years I could say that.”
These days Francey’s music career keeps him so busy that the title of his new album, Late Edition (Laker Music), is as much a nod to the delays that came with recording it as it is a reference to its news-related lyrics.
“I felt I was late getting it out,” he admits. “I was so busy touring that I didn’t leave any time to pull things together.”
Road weariness comes through on homesick songs like Blue Heart Of Texas and Wonder, recorded in Nashville with producer/co-writer Kieran Kane and multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin, both of whom also worked on 2004’s The Waking Hour.
“[The road] is another world from where you live,” Francey says. “It’s a different life but a good one.”
music@nowtoronto.com