{"id":341,"date":"2009-06-07T13:35:31","date_gmt":"2009-06-07T19:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=341"},"modified":"2017-08-29T21:52:03","modified_gmt":"2017-08-29T21:52:03","slug":"oh-my-darling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2009\/06\/07\/oh-my-darling\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh My Darling"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Elves<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo by Antoinette Dyksman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the strength of their self-titled debut EP, Winnipeg roots quartet Oh My Darling are going places, fast. So fast that I couldn\u2019t nail them down in person and had to conduct our interview on Facebook while the band was touring western Canada. Fiddle player Rosalyn Dennett\u2014who is joined in the band by Allison de Groot on claw-hammer banjo, Marie-Jos\u00e9e Dandeneau on upright and electric bass and Vanessa Kuzina on vocals, guitar and mandolin\u2014filled me in on the past, present and future of the group.<\/p>\n

Oh My Darling\u2019s history begins about a year-and-a-half ago, when de Groot was looking for an outlet to play in a more traditional Old Time style. Dandeneau and de Groot had been collaborating with Kuzina on her solo album and were eager to pair Kuzina\u2019s song-writing abilities with their shared love of traditional tunes. Dennett was the final piece of the puzzle and her addition to the group was a serendipitous event. \u201c[Allison] got my name from her stepfather, who had played in a bluegrass band with my mother back in the early \u201980s,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

After some live performances, the quartet quickly realized their potential. \u201cI think we all had pretty large ambitions from the get go. Each of us had been anticipating a project we could really sink our teeth into,\u201d Dennett says.
\nSink their teeth in is just what the four did. Their EP was released in February and the band is already hard at work on material for a full-length, which they\u2019re chipping away at between touring and preparing for the summer festivals. \u201cWe are so excited to hit the festival circuit,\u201d says Dennett. \u201cIt gives us the opportunity to play alongside the musicians we admire most.\u201d<\/p>\n

An appearance at the Trout Forest Music Festival is already confirmed for August and the band will be announcing several more appearances after this magazine goes to press (check www.myspace.com\/ohmydarlingmusic<\/a> for up-to-date details).<\/p>\n

Dennett says the writing and recording of their full-length album is a departure from the process that resulted in their EP. On Oh My Darling, \u201cVanessa [did] most of the vocal compositions and Allison and myself compose[d] the instrumentals. The traditional tunes (\u201cSail Away\u201d and \u201cRoustabout\u201d) were arranged by the band.\u201d While the group was pleased with the album, they\u2019ve been happier still with their new material.\u00a0 \u201cThe songs we have been working on recently have been the most cohesive to date,\u201d Dennett explains. \u201cThe process has become more of a group effort than anything, and the arranging is beginning to really showcase the variety of musical tastes and talents in the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band also has been exploring label and distribution options with an eye to releasing a full-length nationally in 2010 and using the EP as a calling card of sorts when contacting labels. But they\u2019ve also had great success in selling the record off the side of the stage\u2014success that Dennett is quick to attribute in part to the \u201cawesome artwork of Ted Barker,\u201d who the group approached to design their album. \u201cWe love being able to collaborate with artists of different mediums,\u201d she says. Though the album is available via iTunes and Dennett appreciates the environmental benefits of digital album sales, she readily admits that she loves the recording as art object. \u201cThere is something comforting about having a tangible product to market\u2026 something for our audience to take home.\u201d
\nSpeaking of home, Oh My Darling will be back from their western swing in time to take part in Dollyfest at the Times Change(d) on June 20, which at least one Darling is very excited about playing. \u201cVanessa is a Dolly Parton addict,\u201d Dennett says. The Parton-esque elements she suspects Kuzina slipped into the material on Oh My Darling are sure to be on full display at the tribute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Elves On the strength of their self-titled debut EP, Winnipeg roots quartet Oh My Darling are going places, fast. So fast that I couldn\u2019t nail them down in person and had to conduct our interview on Facebook while the band was touring western Canada. Fiddle player Rosalyn Dennett\u2014who is joined in the band […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[117,563,818],"class_list":["post-341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-bluegrass","tag-local","tag-roots"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10113,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions\/10113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}