She calls herself a terrible hostess, but you know wherever
Carolyn Mark goes, the party follows, especially when she brings along
a few friends, including the man of your dreams, Luther Wright.
Several years ago, Mark, who just released Let’s Just Stay
Here, a collection of duets with NQ Arbuckle, was hosting her
Victoria-based open mic, The Hootenanny. According to legend, after
talking to Wright—best known for playing guitar for Sarah Harmer, and
his own band, The Wrongs—the duo decided to take The Hootenanny Revue
on the road. “Somehow the Canada Council saw the method to our madness
and kicked in some bank which helped us to only risk our health,” says
Wright. The Revue grew to include “many Canadian roots luminaries,”
including Jenny and Dan Whiteley, Jim Bryson, Harmer (“when we could
kidnap her”) and current tourmates Diona Davies and Tolan McNeal.
Cut from the same hand-sewn cloth, expect some musical chemistry
between Mark and Wright. “Carolyn is my sister from another mister,”
says Wright. “We’ve chucked the knuckles and hurt ourselves laughing
and loving. After all these years of writing and performing the country
music that radio forgot we may have marginalized ourselves right front
and centre. Although the night is young, this tour is short and we
promised ourselves this time we will not snatch defeat from the jaws of
victory…”
This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2009.