They came together one cold Winnipeg winter three years ago and they’ve been making beautiful music together ever since.
Oh My Darling is an all-female quartet with a country roots sound influenced heavily by traditional Appalachian folk music from the American Southeast. The closely-knit group is performing at the Beneath the Arch concert series in Turner Valley March 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Oh My Darling includes Allison De Groot on banjo, Rosalyn Dennett is the fiddle player, Marie-Josee (M.J.) Dandeneau handles the upright bass and Vanessa Kuzina plays acoustic guitar.
Kuzina said she was calling for help for her solo shows and it led to the formation of the group.
“Allison, M.J. and myself had been playing together performing some of my material and it was Allison’s idea to expand from there and put together an all female old-time band,” she said. “She had been immersing herself more and more into the Appalachian old-time music and incorporating that into her banjo playing style.”
The women realized if they were really going to immerse themselves in this particular style of folk music, which initially rose to prominence in the 1920s, they would need to kick their trio up to a quartet.
“We knew we were missing one key element, a fiddle player,” Kuzina explained. “So we put the word out, found Rosalind and we haven’t looked back since.”
While the members of Oh My Darling write a lot of the group’s material there is one unusual cover song that made it on to “Love Shack”, the band’s 2010 three-song EP.
“One of the songs we love to play live is Tina Turner’s ‘What’s Love got to Do With It,’ Kuzina said. “Our fans love it and we have had many requests from people for us to make a recording of it.”
As interpreted by Oh My Darling, Turner’s mid 80s pop music chart topper becomes a southern fried, banjo driven toe tapper that will almost surely appear in their show in Turner Valley on March 12.
When the Winnipeg foursome takes to the stage as part of the Beneath the Arch Concert series Kuzina said concertgoers should expect a far ranging musical experience.
“We take Appalachian music and blend it with traditional bluegrass and other country styles,” she said. “M.J., our bass player, usually brings a little of a jazz folk edge to things that creates a bit of new sound, which we love. Our shows are composed of our original material and some traditional old-time selections that we update by putting a modern twist on them.”
Those looking to catch Oh My Darling Saturday at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall at 7:30 p.m. can go to www.beneaththearch.org for ticket information. To learn more about the group and how to get their music log onto www.ohmydarling.ca
