What do a horse and an all-female roots/folk band have in common? They share the same unique name – Magnolia Buckskin.
“It offered a little bit of the softness that we create,” explained band member Emily Triggs of the name. “But we also have an edge to our music.”
Magnolia Buckskin will bring their folk/roots music to Okotoks on Saturday as part of the A Room Full of Sound concert series. Joining Magnolia Buckskin will be John Wort Hannam and Ruth Purves Smith and the 581 for the final show of the series.
Magnolia Buckskin is a Calgary-based collaborative group of four female artists who each take turns writing songs and typically singing the lead. Band members include Kathy Cook, Natasha Platt, Corry Ulan and Triggs, who each bring their diverse backgrounds to the group.
“We all write differently but the common denominator is the harmony,” explained Platt.
Every song has three or four part vocals and the versatile band members play a variety of instruments from mandolin to accordion to banjo and guitar.
Platt said most of the band’s songs have a positive message and they try to keep their music upbeat.
“We try to inspire people,” she said. “We try to sing positive songs.”
There is emotion behind their songs, which they sing from their hearts, she explained.
“There’s an honest tone to what we do,” Triggs added.
Triggs said she draws song-writing inspiration by observing people and considering how they feel.
“I look at somebody and I see oh, they’ve gone through something and they must have felt this way,” she said. “Then that really affects me and I use that creatively,”
Originally from Quebec, Triggs moved out west to work in the outdoor recreation industry, but jumped into the Calgary music scene.
“The community is very friendly and very open and accepting and supportive,” she said. “And that’s actually what really has kept me in Calgary for the past 12 years.”
Platt grew up in Carstairs and said she didn’t fit in with the small town hockey crowd.
“I needed a way to express myself,” she said, explaining she was involved in choir, started writing songs at a young age and taking piano lessons.
Classical music heavily influenced her and she said she still finds elements of the style in her writing today.
“We all have different backgrounds and it makes quite a unique sound,” said Triggs.
The band was born out of a rehearsal in Triggs’ living room about four years ago.
“We were just really pleased with how we got along and how the music sounded and that’s where it all started,” she said.
Since then, one member has left and a new one has joined and the band is working on its second album. The album is half done and Magnolia Buckskin anticipates it to be complete in the fall.
As they develop as a band, members have been able to help each other with songs and understand the direction they are taking, said Triggs.
The longer the band has been together, the closer friends members become and the collaboration has grown stronger, added Platt.
“There’s a level of trust there and a level of understanding,” she said.
Magnolia Buckskin, John Wort Hannam and Ruth Purves Smith and the 581 will perform at A Room Full of Sound at the Okotoks United Church March 17. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the show starting at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the door or online at aroomfullofsound.com.
For more on Magnolia Buckskin visit magnoliabuckskin.com.
