After two and a half years performing nearly nonstop on Caribbean cruise ships, Astrid Lyre is back on solid ground.
The Nanaimo guitarist has returned home with plans to write and record original work and get back into the Island and lower mainland music scenes.
“It’s kind of a hard life working on the ships for a long time,” she said.
“You’re away from family and friends and you kind of get disconnected from your musical peers back home and there’s not a lot of room for original music and arranging things that you might be able to do on land.”
Lyre’s travels took her to tropical destinations like the Bahamas, Haiti and Jamaica. Only for brief periods between contracts did she come back to Nanaimo, her home since graduating from Capilano University in 2011. Some of Lyre’s new compositions are inspired by that feeling of homecoming.
“Coming home is one of the best feelings and one of the first jazz tunes that I wrote is called Coming Home and it’s about coming back from the cruise ship and playing with people that I missed,” she said.
On July 26 Lyre performs at the Vault with her trio, composed of veteran drummer James McRae and Vancouver Island University student Brock Meades on bass. She said the show will include original compositions and some rearranged jazz standards.
“Sometimes it’s a little crazy but I feel like we all keep each other on our toes and bring out the best in each other,” she said of her band.
Lyre, who recorded an album with her art rock trio Eleanor two years ago, said she’s been focsusing on jazz recently, attracted to its collaborative and improvisational nature. She said her take on the genre is untraditional and unexpected.
“It’s definitely not straight-ahead jazz, it’s kind of jazz mixed with some rock elements and other influences that I’ve had,” she said.
Lyre said she plans to record an album with McRae and Meades by the end of the summer. Like her gig at the Vault, the record will showcase the material she’s been working on since making landfall two months ago.
“I’m really drawn to the act of creating music with people spontaneously and that sense of excitement and thrill of not knowing exactly what’s going to happen and jazz is a really great vehicle for that…” Lyre said.
“It’s a very collaborative, fun experience that I think draws people’s interest.”
WHAT’S ON … The Astrid Lyre Trio performs at the Vault on Thursday, July 26 at 9 p.m. $10 admission.
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