Melanie Here
Howdy coolgrrrls! My name is Miss Melanie and I am the latest coolgrrrl from Canada. I am currently living in Calgary, Alberta – which is in Western Canada (above Montana for those of you who want to know) – a very under-represented part of my country. But before I begin my first update let me tell you about myself.
I grew up in Calgary and then went to theatre school in Nova Scotia for a year (but that was mostly to follow around bands like Sloan, The Superfriendz, Eric’s Trip and Jale – Halifax has a great music scene) and then transferred to Concordia University in Montreal to study English Literature, History & Theatre, afterwards I spent 6 months in Scotland working, travelling and studying Shakespeare with a private teacher and now I am back in Calgary working for a big Oil & Gas corporation and trying to figure out a way to make a living writing, acting/making movies and singing.
Currently I am singing back-up in a band called Matt Master’s & the Gentlemen of the Rodeo. There are two of us singing back-up and we are called the Wild Roses but that just makes the band title way too long. One thing you need to know about Calgary – everyone wants to be a cowboy. Well, maybe that isn’t really true, but it is true for a lot of people. My lead singer Matt has created a band that takes after old-style country singers like Hank Snow, Hank Williams, Roger Miller, Marty Robbins, Willie Nelson and Canada’s beloved Stompin’ Tom Connors. So even though he writes his own songs this is not NEW country! We usually end up playing in non-country bars with non-country bands, however we are opening up for the Rev. Horton Heat at the end of July so look for that update because I am so excited I am losing sleep over that show already!
Other stuff of note:
Sign/B-day: Capricorn,/Jan 1st, 1976
Nickname: Melagangsta (long story), my brother used to call me Mal-nutrition and Melvin but I think he has gotten over that by now. (But don’t call me Mel – NEVER just “Mel”!).
Favourite Bands/Music: Weezer, The Real Kids, The Donna’s, Sloan, Devils Dogs, The Dead Boys, anything Greg Oblivian does, Old country like the ones previously mentioned, and I am rather partial to old Alice Cooper, Nazareth and AC/DC too. Way too many to mention, but did I mention Weezer? I am a really big fan of Weezer.
Loves: sushi, dogs, reading, old movies (especially with Jimmy Stewart), vintage clothes and furniture, making clothes, playing kids board games like Trouble and Sweet Valley High (don’t knock it – you get to steal each other’s boyfriends, and yes, alcohol is usually involved)
Dislikes: migraines (I guess that one is obvious), meat, wind, ironing, and so-called reality TV shows.
So what my column is going to be about here at Coolgrrrls is to talk about the happenings – musical and otherwise – here in Calgary and the Prairies, sometimes in Montreal and where-ever else I may travel too. But what I really want to do is put Calgary on the map and introduce some of it’s local talent to the world.
Last week I went to a fantastic concert at the Night Gallery (you will be hearing about that venue a lot!). Luther Wright & The Wrongs, they are a old-style country band from Kingston Ontario who did a complete re-make of Pink Floyds The Wall, Part I” called “Rebulid the Wall, Part 1″ but in, as Luther calls it, their countrified hillbilly hurtin style – with a slide guitar and everything. It was AMAZING! My friend Dave, who is a musician himself and is pretty picky about other bands just stood there shaking his head yelling “Pure Genius”. And it was. They split up some of the singing between all the members of the band (except the slide-guitar player) and I have to mention that Dan Curtis, the electric guitar player had a great old style hillbilly voice – the high pitch scratchy kind like Bob Wills (only not as high) and the bass player Sean Kelly had so much energy he couldn’t keep is feet on the ground and kept doing what can only be called a happy dance. If you get the chance, check out their website www.lutherwrightandthewrongs.com and listen to some of the MP3’s they have because it is so worth it. There were two opening acts for these guys John Ford, who I missed and Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails, which I expected to be another country-style band but they were more rock than twang. Ron Hawkins used to be in The Lowest of the Low, which was another great Canadian band, and is now fronting a 6 person ensemble that includes 2 Saxophone Players! I can’t really describe their style either. His voice really reminded me of Elvis Costello but there was definitely a Canadian sound to them. Anyway, I really liked them, my friends thought they were kind of boring but that could have been because my friends were all guys and I said that the lead singer was really cute and they may have been jealous (which he is, although if you check out the website the picture doesn’t do him justice – he had shaggy hair at the show). I think maybe it was just a slow night because it did seem like these guys could probably rock out a lot more than they were doing. Check them out at www.ronhawkins.com.
So that is it for a scene update. Like most people, I also went to see AC/DC when they blew through town over a month ago, however, I don’t remember too much of that show except Brian Johnson swinging on that giant bell with no safety devices on. Oh, and Angus doing a strip tease to reveal he was wearing boxer shorts with a Canadian flag on them. What is it about rock guys stripping and playing the guitar that is such a turn on no matter how old they are?
Upcoming Events: THE CALGARY STAMPEDE otherwise know as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” is a 10 day Rodeo extravaganza that has been running for over 100 years and means that everyone in this city turns into a cowboy and drinks for 10 days straight. I talk more about it in my next update and my band will be playing almost daily around town so get ready for some great pictures of drunk people in tacky clothes!
Personal Plug: Last summer my friends and I made a movie. Not just took a video camera out and filmed ourselves getting drunk but a feature length film that we are now in negotiations with a major distribution company her in Canada. If you are interested to learn about this check out the trailer on our website www.fubar-themovie.com and any feed back or comments you have feel free to e-mail me at: cowgrrrl@coolgrrrls.com
Until next time…
*melanie
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