Concert to commemorate life of late U of A alumnus Luke Jansen
Headliner Ariana Brophy reflects on memories of her friend and fellow musician
SuppliedWhat: Do You Love Your Song?
When: October 4, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Festival Place, Sherwood Park
Tickets: $15, purchasable through the Festival Place Box Office (780-499-3378) and Ticketmaster
The Edmonton and surrounding area music community is coming together on October 4, at Festival Place in Sherwood Park to commemorate the of life of Luke Jansen, a beloved musician, U of A alumnus, and friend to many who passed away due to a traffic accident in October 2017.
The event is titled Do You Love Your Song? in tribute to a lyric from one of Jansen’s songs, “In the Morning.” It will be a night of celebrating Jansen’s life with one of the things he did best: music.
Do You Love Your Song? features a variety of well-known folk musicians and friends of Jansen’s, such as Lucas Chaisson, Post Script, and Maddie Storvold. All artists are performing pieces that pay tribute to Jansen in some way.
Ariana Brophy, an Edmonton-born-and-raised singer-songwriter and friend of Jansen’s, will also be one of the evening’s headliners. Brophy remembers her friend with tear-filled eyes and a heavy heart.
“He was grounded and real,” Brophy says. “He had a never-ending supply of energy to share with people.”
Brophy’s connection to her music started out as a way of understanding strife and expressing her struggles. However, where there is struggle, Brophy looks for the light.
“I think I see a lot of beauty in places where it hasn’t been seen before,” Brophy says. “Like finding a moment of peace by a busy highway.”
Jansen’s passing is no exception to Brophy’s life philosophy. As an artist, she took her music to find light in a very dark moment.
“I wrote song after song,” Brophy says. “None of them were good enough.”
Only within the last two weeks did inspiration strike Brophy, as she was answering questions for another interview. The meaning behind her memories with Jansen soon became intertwined in verses. She wrote the first verse in about 10 seconds, and the chorus “wrote itself.”
Brophy has chosen to perform this new song, titled “How the Light,” at Do You Love Your Song?. The piece addresses how reflecting on memories of Jansen have now changed them.
“In one moment, [these memories] are filled with laughter,” Brophy says. “The next, they make you cry.”
Brophy recalls one of her favourite memories of Jansen, a time when she was confused about her direction in music.
“What if what I’m writing isn’t any good?” Brophy asked Jansen.
“Does it have to be good if it’s real?” Jansen responded.
Keeping his advice in mind with her music, Brophy keeps a photo of Jansen next to her workplace as a reminder to “start somewhere.”
“The event is just another way for him to touch more lives and an opportunity for healing [the lives he has already touched].”
