Canadian singer and songwriter Mandi Leigh is about to embark on her first-ever cross-Canada tour, as she bids farewell to British Columbia to begin a new chapter in Toronto, Ontario.
With a stop in Lethbridge on May 14, Leigh’s Far From Home tour will be a once-in-a-lifetime journey rooted in music and personal change.
Rather than simply relocating, Leigh has turned the move into a national tour on her way to record her second album.
“My tour now has 20 stops,” she said. “My music producer and his wife are already in Toronto, so I wanted to record my second album with him and rather than just shipping and flying, I decided to tour my way across the country to continue to get myself out there and build up some momentum for my second album.”
Currently, Leigh lives in Maple Ridge and has lived in B.C. for her entire life. “It’ll be the first time I’ve lived outside of the Lower Mainland.”
On the road, Leigh will be joined by her boyfriend Diego Mendoza, who is a drummer and sound engineer.
“He’s renting an RV and we’re travelling together. He’s going to help me with sound. It’s the two of us touring together. I do have some opening acts and people playing with me along the way,” she added.
The EP Emotional Highs was Leigh’s first foray into writing and recording, and the original music was released as singles throughout 2024. “I started learning guitar and all of this music started pouring out of me. It was a lot of heartbreak and loss and self-reflection.”
For the new record, Leigh is gearing up to do more of an upbeat folk-country-rock album.
“This tour is going to be a mixture of the songs I already have written. The stories that have led me up to this point in my life, where music is my priority. We’re releasing a full 10-song album.”
A live Mandi Leigh show is part original songs and part covers, with a folk-country-rock twist.
“I like to have a little bit of something for everybody. Anything from Dolly Parton to Gnarls Barkley. I have a TLC song, and I do some Brooks and Dunn and Jason Mraz. I try and have a song or two they will recognize, but done in my own way,” she noted. “It’s kind of the vibe.”
In Lethbridge, Leigh will be joined on stage by local artist Brody Jerome at The Owl Acoustic Lounge.
“I’m really excited to move onto this new chapter in my life. It’ll be cool to have some people in Lethbridge come out and see what I’m doing and connect with them,” she added.
For more information about the tour, visit Leigh’s website.
For information about the Lethbridge show, visit The Owl Acoustic Lounge website.
