In the third year of her degree, Vanessa Kuzina spent a lot of time trying to convince her professors to let her write songs instead of papers for her assignments.
The artistic life, she says, 鈥渘ever really shuts off鈥� and she found her musical wheels spinning when she should have been concentrating on her degree.
鈥淲hen it was textbooks and my guitar staring at me, it always seemed to be my guitar that was winning out, so I knew at that point that it was time to take a break, and my break has been about 10 years now, and it鈥檚 been great,鈥� she said.
For the last six of those years, she has been guitarist and vocalist for the genre-bending, four-piece roots act Oh My Darling.
The group was born when she got together with banjo player Allison de Groot and upright bassist Marie-Jos茅e Dandeneau to lay down some tracks for her solo album.
The women enjoyed playing together, and, inspired by all-female acts of the past, found themselves a fiddle player and put together an all-female roots group.
鈥淚 loved the sound, loved the feeling, loved the energy of four women together,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat female energy is really positive and really emotional and really loving, and I think that combining it with music can be really powerful.鈥�
But Kuzina said that while she and her band mates deliberately set out to create an all-female group, they don鈥檛 let that fact define them.
鈥淏eing all female certainly adds a vibe to the sound, but it鈥檚 not everything about who we are.鈥� In the end, she said, people just want to hear good music.
More than its feminine vibe, Oh My Darling鈥檚 music is defined by the unique influences each member brings to the table鈥攊nfluences as diverse as clawhammer banjo, country and bluegrass, and traditional Francophone music.
Kuzina said those influences compliment one another, and after playing together for a while the members had鈥攚ithout really realizing it鈥攃reated their own genre out of their own personal backgrounds.
Although she talks fondly about the 鈥渋nnocence鈥� of the band鈥檚 early recordings, she said that over the past few years their style has really crystalized as they started to take more risks.
鈥淚t had finally happened, where that push and pull had eased, and we had all really found how we each could shine in the sound, and it became its own sound at that point. It wasn鈥檛 four individuals anymore, it was the sum of all of us,鈥� Kuzina said.
Oh My Darling has been showcasing that sound on its western Canadian tour, which stops in Jasper Feb. 18.
Kuzina said the last time the band was in town it turned into a dance party. Scottish fiddler Hannah Reid will join the gals for their show in Jasper, and Kuzina said the whole group is excited to return to the mountains to try to recreate the magic.
Trevor Nichols
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