“Most of these songs were composed in the wee hours of a new day. The witching hours, you could call them. Where my mind is active and there’s a peace and spirit I embrace in the quiet of life.” In these musical revelations—recorded in Stagger’s new Victoria home studio made of “beautiful rough-cut wood”—we hear gratitude, struggle, rebel rousing, balladry, compassion, and humour. We go to worlds as small as the back of lousy Dodge Dart, and worlds as vast as the Alberta Skies and as ethereal as human connection. “This is a record of the human spirit. Of suffering and joy. Of heroes and everyday stories. And of addiction and redemption.” Similar to like-minded songwriters as Jason Isbell and Steve Earle, Leeroy Stagger uses his long-term sobriety for muse, muscle, and music. Take the recovery song “These Days”, which still yearns for a greater meaning, even after 16 years of sobriety. “The song is a reminder to myself to find the humanity in my interactions. To meet my fears with more love. That I have to work very hard to transcend that world that lives inside of me.” Stagger easily shifts to raucous singalong songs that stick in your head like chewing gum. Tunes like “Count To Ten” ( a collaboration with Dennis Ellsworth), “Mediocrity Pill” (co-written with Jay Malinowski), and “Watermelon Pink” were born out of one manager’s challenge to deliver hooky-as-hell rockers to compliment his more contemplative tunes.