The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Or in the wild raspberry jam, which British Columbia-based Trisha Gagnon makes herself on her farm and preserves in mason jars. They're for sale, seasonally, during set breaks at Jaybirds road shows. If you take home a jarful, you will no doubt find that the adjective chosen by folk music authority “Sing Out!” to describe Gagnon's voice was apropos in more ways than one: “Irresistible.”

A less epicurean adjective would not have sufficed, and not only to account for her organic jam-making enterprise: Gagnon brings a perceptive beauty to all she touches. Her many roles in the band — vocalist, bassist, and song-writer — all are informed by the same personal, homespun touch. But that's not all. Her Chilliwack, B.C. farm has harbored many a wayward animal in search of a place to rest — about a dozen cats, several dogs, and other critters could attest to her generosity.

Gagnon's earnest, convivial spirit informed her work of several years with her sister in the popular BC-based band, Tumbleweed, and has inspired such memorable Jaybird narratives as “Blackberry Bramble,” “On My Way to You,” and “Home Sweet Home,” a rare collaboration that set Gagnon-penned lyrics to a Reischman melody. To hear her explain the inspiration for the song in concert drives home the great virtue she celebrates, and in many ways embodies in her music: a true sense of place. As a grounding force in this band of far-flung and far-flying Jaybirds, for Gagnon, each and every road leads home.