Rachel Stern
Black Press
Deep emotional pain pushed Chantal Kreviazuk to write the song Lost.
The song, which is on her latest album Hard Sail, was sparked by a family tragedy, which Kreviazuk said she doesn’t want to go into specific detail about.
“It was horrible and I had some PTSD from it,” she said. “It was great to be able to write and have a way of healing. I think it actually saved my life at the time.”
Kreviazuk said she wrote like when she was a child.
“As a kid you wrote because you want to. You feel it inside. It’s very pure,” she said.
She walked into the studio and the song poured out. Kreviazuk said the song is just as people hear it on the album.
Hard Sail was released in June and it is her sixth album. Her previous album was released in 2009.
Kreviazuk said she took a break to focus on family and raising her three children.
“When you are writing and releasing albums you are self-involved, and there is really no room to be self-involved when you are a mom,” she said.
Kreviazuk said the time off and becoming a mother has also changed her. She was writing material for other artists but now she’s been writing for herself.
“I don’t over-think it. I am a bit more daring and confident. Things are more assertive and evolved,” she said.
Kreviazuk has been writing songs since she was a child and playing the piano since she was three. One of her earliest memories is of her grandparents playing music with her.
“I would sit on my grandpa’s or grandmother’s knee and they would play the fiddle and the harmonica together,” she said.
Kreviazuk performs at the Sid Williams Theatre Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $46.25. Call 250-338-2430 or visit online at sidwilliamstheatre.com.