Winnipeg based folk and old time music, well ‘darlings’, Oh My Darling are excited about celebrating St Jean Baptiste Day, June 21 at the Cité Des Prairies (2106 sixth Avenue South). It was to take place at Pavan Park, ( 110-62 Ave North)
, but has been moved due to weather.
Earlier this year they released their first all French EP, ‘Venez Danser,’ ( Let’s Go Dancing.)
“We just released our first Francophone CD, ‘Venez Danser’ which means Let’s Go Dancing. We’ve always had one French song on each of our CDs and our bass player Marie-Josée Dandeneau grew up in the French quarter of Winnipeg,” said Guitarist/ vocalist Vanessa Kuzina adding they will also be playing some of their English songs as well.
“ But we also have a French audience. So I think that’s part of why we made this CD a French release,” she said.
“ It’s a way to reach out to the French community. It’s nice to give back to the Francophone community and create a community,” she said.
They have been working on the album for approximately a year.
“ A lot of the writing took place while we were touring Europe,” last year, Kuzina continued.
They also drew a lot of inspiration from Canadian history and Canadian francophone history— particularly the story of Louis Riel.
“We have a song on the new Cd (La Valse D‘Evelina) about a Louis Riel and a woman who he was in love with who lived in the United States. She was going to move up here, but never did. It was something we related to being on tour and away from our loved ones,” she related.
She noted response has been excellent for the new CD, especially in Montreal.
“We’re excited to bring it to Lethbridge,” she said.
“ We always enjoy Lethbridge we’re excited to come and see our friends there,” she said.
Later this year, they will be going back to Europe.
“We’ve been there three times. So it will be great to go back. They‘re very interesting in bluegrass and old time music. They are interested in any music from North America and the southern States,” she said.
“ There aren’t a lot of old time female bands over there, she said.
