Canadian singer-songwriter Leeroy Stagger is not afraid of change. 

The proof can be heard in his dozen albums where he fuses country, roots, rock, and emotionally raw lyrics into a sound of his very own. 

Photo credit: Leeroy Stagger

But the most recent change came during the pandemic, when he decided to leave his dream home with a home-studio behind in Alberta, and come home to Victoria where he grew up and started making music 20 years ago. 

“I didn’t want to ride out the pandemic there,” Stagger tells VictoriaNow. 

“So we hauled our 1973 Airstream full of stuff, and our kids, and settled back here on the coast. And it’s been no regrets.”

Leeroy Stagger, who plays a series of shows across the Island this week, also holds no regrets about finding sobriety almost 14 years ago — something that saved his career and his life. Since then, he’s been making award-winning music with a clear head.

“It’s changed everything,” says Stagger. “It has allowed me to enjoy my career, be present as an artist, and find the meaning of doing all this.”

“I think writing is just so much better with a sober mind," he says. "When you’re in active alcoholism, you romanticize the world, and that’s actually not real or truthful as an artist.”

Photo credit: Leeroy Stagger

Stagger is an open book about his before-and-after sobriety story. He recalls when one of his heroes, the troubadour Steve Earle, took the time to chat about giving up booze on a night they shared the stage.

“When he turned down an offer to go for a beer and said he was sober, that was the first time it planted that seed for me.”

Stagger remembers dangerous drinking days with famous country-crossover singer Jason Isbell. Before Isbell got sober himself, Stagger could see the damage it was doing to another musician he admired.

“I wasn’t getting sober because my heroes were getting sober, I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to keep doing this for a living. I didn’t like doing it anymore…waiting to get off stage so I could drink myself to sleep.”

Those days are long behind Leeroy. Today, he balances music and fatherhood, laughing that he now “likes to be in bed by midnight.”

The shows Stagger is playing this week include the Mosaic Arts & Culture Festival on Pender Island, are mostly outdoor performances under the sun. 

"Don’t get me wrong, I still love a dark club,” he laughs. “But sobriety doesn’t always lend itself to being in bars either. That’s a big part of why I like the outdoors a little bit better.”

Leeroy Stagger plays outdoors tonight, July 27, at Brentwood Bay’s Music in the Park.

More info on shows and tickets can be found on the Leeroy Stagger Tour Page.