St. Louis, Missouri native Pokey Lafarge might not be a household name in Canada, yet. But, judging by the raucous crowd on hand for last night’s sold out show at the venerable Horseshoe Tavern, to know him is to love him.

Lafarge, born Andrew Heissler, brought his seven-person band to the 'Shoe in support of their latest album Something in the Water, put out by Rounder Records. And the outfit did not disappoint, digging into its catalogue of popular tunes, Lafarge and company had the crowd crooning their hearts out from the few first bars of “Knocking the Dust off the Rust Belt Tonight.” And they knew most words, and when to shout back at the stage in a call-and-answer style that speaks to the intimacy that can be created by a guy who so obviously enjoys performing.

This was not a typical Toronto crowd. This was a crowd ready for a party, even though it was Sunday night. A crowd that seemed to appreciate the effort Pokey puts into a live performance. Considering it was as hot as a sauna in the comfy confines of the Queen West club, Lafarge really kept the energy levels high. Even when he crooned his way through a few quieter numbers, it was still all about the big show.

Although it looked like he could drop at any moment, he continued to plow through material from his new album with the title track “Something in the Water,” “Wanna Be Your Man” and “All Night Long” as highlights.

Lafarge’s music is described as American roots, but it really borrows from a number of different traditions including jazz, swing and ragtime. Let’s just call it ‘old timey’ in the best possible way. And his band was just stellar, and included drums, guitar, stand-up bass, a couple of horn players and a sideman of rare quality who played any number of instruments including a mean harmonica in addition to backing up Lafarge on vocals.

The new album is produced by Jimmy Sutton, who also worked with another stellar American artist with an appreciation for yesteryear named JD Macpherson.

According to Lafarge, Something in the Water is the truest representation of his music, saying: “You try to make something that’s cool, something that’s sexy. But when you come down to it, you can really only make music for yourself, and I feel like this album is the first time that I was really able to do that.  I’m 31 and I’ve been doing this for awhile, but I feel like I’m only starting to make the music that I’ve always wanted to make. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself when I was younger, because guys like Hank Williams and Bob Dylan and Otis Redding made so much great music when they were in their 20s. But now I feel like I no longer have that pressure, so I can just be myself.”

Lafarge has released six studio albums, the last one as well as an EP were released on Jack White’s Third Man Records label out of Nashville, Tennessee, which afforded Lafarge an opportunity to open up for White on his Blunderbuss tour.

Hopefully Lafarge’s audience continues to grow because we need more people like him turning out original tunes with passion and conviction.

Check out the clip below from last night’s show.

IMG 1486 from Ron Johnson on Vimeo.