Toni Vere is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge with her new band Hashmagandy, April 16 at the Wolf’s Den to play for the Lethbridge Folk Club. The show is a homecoming of sorts for her.
“I used to live in Lethbridge for 20 years, actually the folk club was the first place I ever played right after high school,” said the Calgary based singer/songwriter, on her lunch break from work at Cat Rentals.
Hashmagandy, including lead guitarist/ vocalist Carla Olive and bassist Amy Bishop, came together as a result of Vere needing musicians for her solo CD.
They had so much fun recording in 2009, that they decided to form a band, combining the songwriting talents of all three musicians. Drummer Bill Nordrick, who used to play in a Lethbridge band called Straight Clean, will be rounding out the group for the Lethbridge show.
“We were in Coaldale a year ago we had a lot of people who came out, several people who knew me in Lethbridge,” she continued adding they are best known for the song “Girl Next Door,” which tells a partially true story based on her experiences as a lesbian and the very catchy rocker “I’m Gonna Be On Ellen” which should be the new “On The Cover of the Rolling Stone.”
“Well who doesn’t want to be on Ellen? It’s a really fun song. When we started handing out the song, people seemed to like it. It’s a lighthearted way to look at the music world,” she laughed adding the success of “Girl Next Door” came as a bit of a surprise.
“‘Girl Next Door’ became the first single. It wasn’t my choice. They just started playing it on the Americana internet radio station,” she said.
“I was 37 when I came out and still struggle a little. I struggled for a lot of years to come to terms with it,” she said adding ‘Girl Next Door,’ isn’t 100 per cent true as she exaggerated parts of her story of lesbianism for the sake of the song.
“I’m not a really in your face girl. I worried about what people would think and I was afraid for my job. But my friends , family and co-workers accept me for who I am and I’ve never been happier since I stopped trying to hide and pretend and accepted who I am,” she continued adding she married and had children and is now a proud grandmother.
“I’m not there to be a lesbian on stage. That’s just one colour of my personality. Hashmagandy isn’t just lesbians rocking out,” she said.
“All three of us are songwriters and we all complement each other. We are folk rock with a little bit of pop. There’s a traditional feel with a little bit of Coldplay, a little bit of Blue Rodeo with some Tom Petty,” she described adding they will be filming a video for their song “ Levi Strauss” next.
“ I wanted to be in a band is because I wanted to be a songwriter. But I ended up just playing cover songs for a lot of years and got caught up in it became about trying to please other people and less about writing original music. so I thought I’d rather have a nine to five job, ” she said.
“Then I was watching a CMT special on Mary Chapin Carpenter. I was doing housework or something and she played ‘This Shirt.’ I was mesmerized,” she said adding she picked up her guitar and wrote ‘Levi Strauss’ soon after.
“There are definitely plans to record a Hashmagandy record. But Amy’s partner is getting transferred to Winnipeg. Hashmagandy is a huge entity itself, so it will have to be soon,” she continued.
“We’re going to play a show of upbeat fun. It’s always a lot of fun. If we see the audience come away with smiles on their faces, we feel we’ve done a good job,” she said.
The show begins at 8 p.m., April 16 at the Wolf’s Den with opening act Stephan Rondeau. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members.
