Day 9: NICE HORSE
All Folk'd Up Proudly Presents NICE HORSE
Nice?
Yes, they are that, but perhaps a better word is fierce.
The four ladies who make up award-winning Alberta country quartet Nice Horse are wild, wildly talented, wildly entertaining, fun, fresh, feisty and, yes, fierce, and they’ve already established themselves as one of the most buzzed-about and fast-rising acts in the Canadian music industry.
Formed almost five years ago by four close friends — friends from very diverse musical pedigrees — during one unforgettable girls’ trip to Hawaii, what began as a part-time lark has now become their full-time focus.
“We all had other projects that we were serious about,” explains drummer/vocalist Krista Wodelet, “so this was supposed to be the fun band — just to hang out together and have a good time because we knew each other through the business and other projects, and we just wanted to spend time together.”
“That’s how it started, and it rolled out of control.”
And the results in such a short time have been astonishing.
A live act to be reckoned with, Nice Horse have already shared the stage with such acts as Tom Cochrane, High Valley, Washboard Union, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Paul Brandt. They’ve performed at such big-time country music festivals as Boots and Hearts, Big Valley Jamboree and Dauphin’s CountryFest, as well as showcasing during other high-profile events such as Roger’s Hometown Hockey, Nashville’s AmericanaFest, JUNOFest, and during the Canadian Country Music Association’s Country Music Week.
Not surprisingly, the awards and accolades have followed, including three Canadian Country MusicAward (CCMA) nominations and a win for Country Recording of the Year at the 2018 YYC Music Awards. Nice Horse has also earned five Country Music Alberta Awards including Group of the Year (2018 and 2020), Video of the Year (2018), Interactive Artist of the Year (2020), and Horizon Single of the Year for the band’s first-ever top 40 hit, “Cowgirl”.
Their full-length debut, 2017’s There Goes the Neighbourhood, which was produced by Jeff Dalziel (Washboard Union, Brett Kissel), along with iconic Canadian producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Jann Arden, Bryan Adams), yielded a pair of hot radio and video singles, including for the sassy femme-country soon-to-be-classic Mansplainin’ and the catchy-as-all-get-out Pony Up.
It has also opened the door for them in Nashville, with the members spending a great deal of time down there, establishing strong relationships with the musical community in Music City. Again, not bad for four Alberta gals who are newcomers to the C&W scene, especially when you know the different backgrounds of all of the incredibly accomplished and talented musicians and songwriters.
Wodelet and bassist/vocalist Brandi Sidoryk both came from classical backgrounds, with degrees in orchestral performance and vocal performance, respectively, before they teamed up for wonderful Calgary electro-pop duo Sidney York.
Katie Rox, on acoustic guitar, banjo and vocals, established herself as a solo singer-songwriter and who was the voice for west coast industrial producer Dave “Rave” Ogilvie’s poppier JUNO-winning project Jakalope.
As for newcomer Tara McLeod, who joined the crew three years ago, her musical background is almost as eclectic as the entire band’s, with a stint in metal faves Kittie as well as backing up other artists such as Shawn Desman and Fefe Dobson.
And what brings all four of them together and makes Nice Horse the cool, cohesive, confident,rockin’ country unit it is? “The mutual desire to continue to play music when a lot of our peers, people we’ve been playing with, have — I don’t want to say given up, but grown up,” says McLeod before laughing. “Whereas we have a refusal to grow up.”
Yet they’re very serious about what they do, with their songs and sound coming from a genuine love and respect for the music, and steeped in shared influences ranging from Miranda Lambert and Dixie Chicks to The Cadillac Three and The Brothers Osborne. They also want to be taken seriously and respected for that music and their skills, and not the gender of the members — although that is, they say, something of a source of pride for them.
“It’s insane that it’s 2019 and there are no other all-female country bands that are self-contained,” says Wodelet, noting that’s not the case in most other genres. “But at the end of the day we want to be a good band — not a good female band, but a good band.”
They are. And only getting better. And, believe it or not, actually nicer.
Proof of that can be found in the work they’ve done to support the charity Can Praxis, a non-profit organization that, fittingly, uses horse therapy to work with veterans and first responders who suffer from PTSD, and help them regain their family relationships. It’s a charity that’s close to their hearts, with Sidoryk a member of the Canadian Armed Forces and Wodelet’s partner a first-responder who has required the services of the central Alberta-based organization. It’s yet another reason their profile and reputation — as great musicians, amazing people — has grown so tremendously in such a short period of time.
And what’s next for Nice Horse?
“We kind of want to take over the world,” laughs Wodelet, pointing to the fact that they’ve already taken their talents across the pond for packed houses during recent, European dates with many more to come in the very near future.
“We see the potential in it, so we want to chase it as far as it will go.”
Nice Horse. Good luck trying to rein these wild women in.