Laura Peek Multi-Tasks With Halifax Friendz

Some girls daydream of their wedding day, or being crowned prom queen. Halifax's Laura Peek can set all of her wool-gathering aside, as she was just asked to play in Buck 65's band on his upcoming cross-Canada tour.

"I found out about three weeks ago," says Peek over French toast and coffee at Halifax's One World Cafe. "I was visiting my family in Toronto at the time and Michael Catano [The Holy Shroud, North Of America, Buck 65] called me up and said they needed a keyboardist.

"I feel really lucky, but it all seems very rushed, as I've been away for a couple of weeks so we've only been able to rehearse four times."

Peek recently joined Halifax's indie-elite, as the unassuming songstress is currently working on her debut album with The Winning Hearts. Former Super Friendz member Charles Austin has taken over engineering duties while the eminent Inbred, Mike O'Neill, soaks up producing credits.

"Last summer I happened to give my EP to Matt Murphy and he said he was going to meet up with Mike later that day," says Peek. "Anyway, I gave him another copy but he never got around to giving it to Mike until around Christmastime.

"Mike emailed me and said he really liked it. I had never met him before, but it was pretty exciting considering he is one of my favourite songwriters."

Peek coins herself a cat lady in training, but the petite copper-haired pianist is more accurately described as librarian chic. Her fervent intellectual pop melodies are reminiscent of Sarah Slean's literary musings combined with the ungainly vulnerability of Julie Doiron's stage presence.

"The bulk of the album is done," Peek says. "We're aiming for a late summer release.

"We only have joke titles at the moment, like 'Truck It.' The cover would be me driving a transport truck with my band hitchhiking on the roadside. It's so inappropriate."

In addition to Peek's shy, kittenish arrangements with The Winning Hearts, Peek sits in on keyboards (bought for five dollars at a garage sale) in the French-noise minimalist ensemble, Le Coques Et Les Phoques.

"It kind of frightens me how easy it is to write songs for that band," says Peek. "We write songs in like an hour, and my own work takes months to finish one song.

"It's pretty fun. The original idea was to be a French punk band, but pop music is so ingrained in my head."

Laura Peek joins Buck 65 at these shows:

June 20 Calgary, AB @ Grand Theatre
June 21 Edmonton, AB @ Myer Horowitz Theatre
June 23 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret
June 26 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
June 29 Saskatoon, SK @ Odeon Events Centre
June 30 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
July 1 Ottawa, ON @ Major's Hill Park
July 2 Montreal, QC @ Club Soda