Vancouver folk/ bluegrass trio The Be Good Tanyas are glad to be back.
They took an extended, three year hiatus to pursue other projects including university, solo projects and motherhood but will be making their Lethbridge debut, May 16 at the University Theatre.
The roots of the be Good Tanyas go back to 1993 when Frazey Ford found kindred spirits while planting trees in the Kootenays with Sam Parton and Trish Klein, but first got together to play concerts in 1999. They recorded three albums, taking their time with each of them.
“It’s pretty cool to be playing again but we needed to take a break,” said multi-instrumentalist Trish Klein.
She was spreading herself too thin as she was simultaneously playing with Allison Russell and Po’ Girl.
“It got to the point where I’d get off tour with Po’ Girl and I’d literally meet the Be Good Tanyas at the airport,” she said. So, long story short, after years of non-stop touring, the band decided to take a break around 2007.
“ It was crazy, that year. I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to tour and play music anymore,” she said.
“ I think most of the band felt that way.”
Ford had a baby boy, Klein went back to school to study art and to live all over the world.
“I went to Japan and lived in Paris for a year. I worked on my languages and I was able to study visual art. Sam (Parton) was able to go to university too and Frazey (Ford) could spend more time with her son,” Klein said.
“Taking time off allowed us to get a new perspective and appreciation,” she continued.
“ But I was also playing with Frazey. She went on a solo tour and recorded the album “Obadiah.”
“I recorded it with Frazey and then we went on tour, but we did our last show (as the be Good Tanyas) in about 2007 or 2008,” she recalled.
But they reunited for a few shows in 2011 and realized just how much fun it was to play and sing together again.
“ We’re playing better than ever. Now we’ve learned we like touring again but in moderation,” she continued.
“There is just something special about these three voices, with those instruments,” she said.
She couldn’t remember if the Be Good Tanyas had played Lethbridge before.
“We’re excited. We’ll be playing some older stuff,” she said adding they may shy away from just playing their most popular songs.
“We want to play the songs we never played on the other tours, or the songs we got sick of and stopped playing. We want to play the B-Sides,” she said adding they have about a half dozen new song including originals, traditional songs and as well as reworked covers like the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.”
“We’re capable of delivering a good, solid show,” Klein continued.
“We think we’re playing better than ever,” she continued. They are touring with a bassist and a drummer.
“It’s a pretty full sound, with our three voices and some rocking guitar playing,” she added.
The Be Good Tanyas have influenced many girls and even guys with their bluegrass, rootsy, folk sound, which was an anomaly in the ’90s, when the airwaves and clubs were inundated with DJs and hip hop dance music. They went looking for something real and found it in folk.
“In a way, what were were doing was a reaction to the ’90s. You couldn’t go out and see a band in a club. It got so sterile. But when I discovered folk festivals, where you could find guys sitting around a campfire and strumming banjos, I knew I found my people,” she enthused.
“Ten years ago, it was all DJs and discos and you couldn’t see a band if you wanted to. Now, there is a lot of interesting music. bands are cool again. And I’m like ‘yes’ to that” she enthused adding the Be Good Tanyas have influenced a lot of young women and even men to get into folk and traditional music.
“Even back then we had a lot of girls coming up to us saying ‘we formed a band because of you’ or girls who say ‘I bought a banjo because of you. ’ There was even a group of guys who said they formed a Be GoodTanyas tribute band but they were guys. I’d like to see that,” she added.
Tickets are $25 in advance from Blueprint or $40 at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m., with the show beginning at 8 p.m. in the University Theatre.
