Cara Luft & Shari Ulrich

April 5, 2024

The Square, Vancouver, Canada

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This show is made possible in part by the generous financial assistance of

DAN & URSULA BOWDITCH. Thank you very much for your support!

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To mark her long career and her 50th birthday, Cara Luft (The Small Glories, The Wailin' Jennys) is launching “50 for 50” — fifty curated shows that will see her travel across Canada, the US and Europe. She will be joined by a cast of friends and special guest artists who share her sense of adventure and joyful music-making, as well as her passion to explore, collaborate and celebrate. No two shows will be the same. As one promoter put it, "I don’t know which is more beguiling... her 1000 watt personality, her wizardry on guitar and banjo, the power of her voice or her songwriting talent. In any event, the audience is in for a real treat!”

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For this show, Cara will be joined by West Coast songbird and close friend Shari Ulrich. Beloved by both fans and musicians alike, Shari has a way of drawing people close to her heart. She holds space for many in the music community, offering support and wisdom gained from her decades of performing. A musician's musician and a songwriter's writer, Shari sets the bar for any artist wanting to expand their skill and vision.

Join Cara and Shari and other special guests for a one-of-a-kind unique performance full of musical surprises. Just some of the people confirmed to make an appearance are Neil & Dave Osborne and Suzie Ungerleider. There will be more!

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CARA LUFT

Juno award winning singer-songwriter-guitarist extraordinaire Cara Luft is that rare artist steeped in folk and traditional roots music almost from birth, yet willing to alter the fabric, stretch the boundaries and fearlessly bend genres and styles. Her songs are drawn from her life experiences and informed throughout with her indomitably optimistic spirit and impeccable musical instincts. Folk heroine Luft deserves her solid reputation as one of Canada’s finest live performers whose engaging, down-home style comes wrapped in a warm and delicious sense of humour. A co-founder of folk trio The Wailin’ Jennys, Cara was the spark behind the group. Her spirit and innate musicianship were instrumental in their rise to the forefront of the North American roots music scene. Since leaving the trio, Luft has wowed audiences and critics across North America and Europe with her performances.

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Americana UK declared her “a consummate performer.” Popmatters.com noted, “Cara’s warm alto vocals are sinfully sweet,” and added, “Luft is the perfect blend of lightness and gutsy rock chick.” he Globe & Mail stated “it can’t be done, so don’t even try to turn away from the affecting insistence of Luft.,”  No Depression called her “a formidable songwriter and performer, setting the bar for the talented few who’ll follow in her footsteps.” Cara was a semi-finalist in both the International Songwriting Competition and the Unsigned Only Competition, and won the Galaxie Rising Star award.

Luft is clearly at home on the stage, and invites audiences into her world with a rare and endlessly appealing confidence and humility. Reviewers of Cara’s live shows talk about her superb musicianship, her humourous anecdotes, her ability to switch between styles, her accomplished songwriting, and the charm of her stage presence. Cara’s the real deal ... there’s nothing pretentious about her. And that sense of honesty, integrity, personality and spontaneity permeates both her music and her live shows. “Long may she reign!” (Lonesome Highway)

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SHARI ULRICH

Originally a California girl, Shari Ulrich settled on the west coast of Canada in 1970, and soon launched her life in music. A singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (violin, mandolin, piano, guitar, dulcimer, harmonica), she’s been winning hearts across North America with her voice, sublime songs and on-stage charisma ever since. From her time with the legendary Pied Pumkin to The Hometown Band, and on as a solo artist, her career has resulted in 25 albums to date, including collaborations with Bill Henderson and Roy Forbes (UHF), Barney Bentall and Tom Taylor (BTU), and more recently The High Bar Gang, a 7 piece bluegrass band with Barney Bentall and Colin Nairne.

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Along the way, she has garnered 2 Juno awards and several nominations, an induction into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame, and a 2014 Canadian Folk Music Award for English Songwriter of the Year., and produces and hosts Vancouver’s SongBird North series (for 28 years) for the Songwriters Association of Canada.

An accomplished and dynamic performer, Shari makes any sized audience feel like they are in her living room – drawn in by her insightful lyrics, and her engaging warmth and humour.