Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 25/00) - Steve Lacey already has two group recordings under his belt with local Celtic band Ceilidh Friends. It was time for a solo.

And no, it's not Celtic, he says.

"It's more like what you would call modern folk. In the genre of Stan Rogers and Gordon Lightfoot, people like that. I've got a few covers in there, a cover of a Dylan tune and one of Stan's."

The rest of the album, entitled Habits of a Lifetime: Better Late Than Never, is original material.

"And there's a little bit of what you call the blues in there and a little bit of jazz," he explains.

Lots of local friends have helped out on the recording, which was engineered by Norm Glowach of Spiritwalker Studios in Yellowknife. Glowach, Pat Braden, Malcolm McKay, Ryan Murray, Tracy Riley, Lorelei Andrew, Dan Lee, as well Ceilidh Friends' Moira Cameron, Steve Goff and Dawn Lacey all make appearances.

Lacey, who acquired his first guitar at 14 years old, has included songs that date as far back as 1968. One song, for example, is called He.

"Nobody believes me but I wrote it when I was asleep. It's a true story. Meaning I woke up and I had this song going through my head. I'd been dreaming it and wrote it down as soon as woke up."

Much of Lacey's songwriting comes of its own accord.

"Walking down the street and a melody or a line or something that sounds like it might turn into a song."

The songwriter, also an English teacher at Sir John Franklin high school, works slowly at his songs -- preferring to let them gestate for some time between bouts of effort.

Lacey adds this recording would not have been possible without a grant from the NWT Arts Council.

"Not only was it the right time to do it, but it was the right place to do it too. A lot of artists have made a significant start in their career with the help of the Arts Council," says Lacey, who came to Yk from Saskatchewan 12 years ago.

Habits of a Lifetime will be launched Sunday at Giorgios, between 2 and 5 p.m. For a small price of admission, music lovers can hear Lacey play his songs, have a snack and beverage, and get a discount on a copy of the CD.