Canadian folk favourite Cara Luft returns with her first solo album in over 13 years, My Heart Will Always Be, arriving on streaming platforms November 6.
After more than a decade since her last solo release, acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter Cara Luft is stepping back into the spotlight with My Heart Will Always Be, a deeply personal collection of songs celebrating friendship, kindness, self-discovery, and the healing power of music.
Best known as a founding member of two beloved Canadian folk groups, The Wailin’ Jennys and The Small Glories, Luft has built an impressive career defined by heartfelt songwriting, captivating harmonies, and her unmistakable banjo playing.
For longtime fans and new listeners alike, Cara Luft’s My Heart Will Always Be offers a heartfelt reminder of why her music continues to resonate, blending beautiful harmonies, personal storytelling, and the warmth of Canadian folk music.
Her latest album arrives following a period of significant personal and professional change. Around her 50th birthday, Luft found herself navigating new beginnings, including purchasing her first home, receiving an ADHD diagnosis, and closing the chapter on her decade-long musical partnership with The Small Glories.
Rather than rushing into her next project, Luft embraced a simple philosophy: surround herself with people who lead with kindness, generosity, and genuine friendship.
Cara Luft My Heart Will Always Be – A New Chapter in Folk Music
That philosophy became the foundation of My Heart Will Always Be, recorded over 12 days in Vancouver alongside producer and musician Scott Poley, songwriter Clayton Parsons, and engineer Julia Graff.
Together, the collaborators created an album that balances joyful folk melodies with emotional storytelling. Every original song was co-written by Luft and Parsons, while special guests include Grammy-winning banjo player Alison Brown and The Weakerthans’ John K. Samson.
The album’s title track celebrates finding your way back to yourself, while “Find Love” delivers an uplifting reminder of the power of connection.
Elsewhere, “Garbage Hill,” featuring Samson, pays tribute to Luft’s adopted hometown of Winnipeg, and “The Banjo Is a Gift” transforms a stranger’s unexpected act of generosity into a lively, banjo-filled celebration.
Traditional folk songs “The Snows They Melt the Soonest” and “Lagan Love” honour Luft’s musical roots, while a spirited rendition of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” closes the record on a joyful note.
Funded entirely by her fans and released through Blue Case Tunes, My Heart Will Always Be reflects Luft’s commitment to community and authentic musical connections. The album was made available in physical formats at live performances ahead of its November 6 streaming release.
Luft will also be bringing her music to audiences across Canada throughout the fall and winter, including a series of Girls Do Boys performances alongside Helen Austin, Shari Ulrich, and Claire Coupland.
Cara Luft – Interview
We caught up with Cara Luft to discuss her long-awaited return to solo music, the personal changes that inspired My Heart Will Always Be, the importance of kindness and collaboration, and the stories behind her latest collection of songs.
Hi, Cara! Good to meet you! Care to introduce yourself to the readers for those not familiar with your music?
Thanks so much for the Q&A! 🙂 For those unfamiliar with me and my music, I’m a folk/roots singer songwriter based in Winnipeg, MB and have been performing and writing music for most of my life (blame it on my folkie parents! ha ha!). My first EP came out in 1996 (30 years ago! Yowzers!), and things really started to kick into gear in 1997 after releasing my 2nd EP and I quit university to pursue music as a career. In 1998 I was invited to play Lilith Fair and the Wirral International Guitar Festival in the UK, and in 1999 I made the move to Winnipeg in order to immerse myself in the city’s incredible arts and music scene. It’s been go go go ever since 🙂
It’s been more than 13 years since your last solo album, and in that time you’ve helped build two of Canada’s most beloved folk groups, The Wailin’ Jennys and The Small Glories. What made this the right moment to return to making music under your own name, and how is the Cara Luft we’re hearing on ‘My Heart Will Always Be’ different from the artist who made your last solo record?
My last project of 10 years (The Small Glories) ended in Dec 2023. It was unplanned and unexpected, so I took 2024 to process and sort out how I wanted to move forward. After that year I decided I was ready to embrace my solo identity again, but in a slightly different way. I’ve been in this “industry” for a long time, and for me music really is about connection and community. Going forward I didn’t want to play “the game” the same way; instead I wanted to shift gears and focus more on musical friendships, on building deeper connections within communities and with presenters. I wanted to only tour, play, write and record with friends, with people who really saw me and loved me, and who I saw and loved in return. So while I’m out under my own name I really am surrounded by a community of players and supporters who have become integral to what I’m doing. It’s truly a collective effort; it’s a very different space than where I was in my career back in 2012 with my last solo release.
Around your 50th birthday, you experienced an extraordinary amount of change, from buying your first home and receiving an ADHD diagnosis to navigating perimenopause and the end of The Small Glories. How did that period reshape your understanding of yourself, and how did those experiences find their way into the title track’s message of coming home to yourself?
I navigated a lot of grief during my 50th year (saying goodbye to a project I had cared for and nurtured, of looking at the first 50 years of my life and wishing I had had the tools to help me navigate ADHD without feeling like something was wrong with me, navigating the changes my body and brain were going through with all the hormone fluctuations), and in all of this I realized that aging has immense benefits! 🙂 ha ha! There’s wisdom in experience. I know who I am. There’s a grounded-ness in knowing and accepting what is. The silver lining is easier to see, and it becomes easier to see the bigger picture and to tap into what is really important. It made sense that all this knowledge, this acceptance, this “coming home to oneself” would find its way into the songs.
You’ve described building this album around kindness, generosity and working with people who genuinely care about one another. There’s even a song inspired by a stranger who offered you a free banjo after a concert. How did that unexpected act of generosity become “The Banjo Is a Gift,” and what did making this record teach you about the kind of people you want around you, both musically and personally?
There have been a few unexpected gifts of banjos, which is just so delightful! Most have been 4 string tenor banjos, which I don’t play, nor does Clayton (my co-writer and touring brother). So we thought wouldn’t it be fun to write a song about the kind of banjo that we actually play (5 string open back), inspired by an old John Hartford song, and we’d joke with the audience and tell them to look around their houses that night for any extra banjos that they wanted to give away.
This was the first album where it really felt like a truly collective effort. The main 4 people (myself, Clay, Scott and Julia) were all invested in the songs and the process, which is something I haven’t quite experienced before. It reminded me that my instincts are right, that going forward it’s so important for me to work with people who are on the same page, who operate from a place of kindness, respect and generosity.
Your fans funded this entire album, and you’ve chosen to share it on physical formats at concerts before bringing it to streaming services. In an industry increasingly driven by algorithms and online attention, why was it important to put that personal connection first, and what has the response from your audience taught you about the relationship you’ve built with listeners over the years?
There’s a saying that you write and play for your community, and the industry will catch up. If I operated the other way around I think my soul would die. It wouldn’t feel authentic. This “industry” can take a toll. I was looking for a way to shift my energies into something that felt more about community and connection and less about numbers and popularity. My manager of many years suddenly left me and several other artists in the lurch and it was the thing that broke me, and also freed me. I couldn’t emotionally or mentally handle doing a standard release myself, juggling all those balls and playing the game, navigating the world of record labels when every ounce of my being was saying “NOOOO!” I had to find a way that didn’t drain my spirit. What felt right was releasing in physical format first, and celebrating in-person shared listening experiences, encouraging people to own the music they consume as opposed to renting, and to honour and thank all of the people who pre-ordered through crowdfunding. I love my supporters, my fans, my indie angels, and it’s because of them that this album exists and is being shared with the rest of the world.
Cara Luft Tour Dates:
October 30 Winnipeg, MB @ Avalon Arts (with Rob McLaren, Sold Out)
November 4 Vancouver, BC @ Notional Space (Big Sing Evening: School of Rock for Folkies)
November 5 Vancouver, BC @ Notional Space (with Clayton Parsons)
November 6 to 8 Cumberland, BC @ Woodstove Festival (with Clayton Parsons, Sold Out)
November 14 Langley, BC @ BEZ Arts Hub (Solo)
December 5 Thunder Bay, ON @ DaVinci Centre
December 12 Los Barriles, MX @ Venue TBA
December 16 Winnipeg, MB @ The Park Theatre
December 21 Gimli, MB @ The Ship and Plough (Winter Solstice Concert)
January 13 Duncan, BC @ Khowatzun Heritage Centre (Girls Do Boys)
January 14 Courtenay, BC @ The Regier Theatre (Girls Do Boys)
January 15 Parksville, BC @ Knox United (Girls Do Boys)
January 16 Victoria, BC @ The CODA (Girls Do Boys)
January 17 Salt Spring Island, BC @ Saltspring Folk Club (Girls Do Boys)
