Skarlet O’Hara takes a stand
 It’s
always fun to talk with a young band that is just at the beginning
of its journey. They can be filled with such passion and enthusiasm
that you want to capture the moment for when, years down the
road and they become tired old pros who become accustomed
to the trappings of success, you can remind them of why they
got into music in the first place.
Speaking with the members of Skarlet O’Hara at a Tim
Horton’s in Toronto on a chilly Sunday afternoon in
late January and listening to their new CD, the feeling became
unshakable that they have created something together that
could have a lasting impact, that what they’ve created
doesn’t happen with every band.
More special still is that while all the members have played
music in the past, this is the first time any of their bands
got out of the basement.
Their new CD, Picket Fences (Independent) is a loose mixture
of folky rock, some light jazz and radio friendly straight
ahead rock. The band’s sound is largely built around
singer Marnie Pettle’s vocals. It’s her singing,
really, that drives the songs. Her voice has that rare combination
of strength and vulnerability that can carry a song about
infidelity coming from a position of strength, and a song
where she wonders what Karl Marx would think about today’s
world of religious wars under the guise of fighting terrorism
with point blank directness that there’s no mistake
where her sympathies lie.
And that’s really where the CD’s strength really
comes from. Picket Fences is a strongly principled record
that doesn’t sound preachy, where it’s obvious
that the members care about the beauty of the music as well
as the strength of the message. I guess if there is one current
that runs through the record, it’s that of taking a
principled stand. Whether Pettle is daring a lover to inspire
her and healing a broken heart in the process (“Never
Enough”) or raising her voice against third world industrial
exploitation (“See Johnny Run”) the confidence
of strength of conviction is what arises when you add the
sum of its parts.
That sense of ethics extends to how the band conducts its
business. All four members are adamant that if the price of
success was something they weren’t prepared to pay,
then they wouldn’t pay it. For example, they don’t
see themselves changing their look just to sell a few records.
“There are some things I would do,” allows bassist
Mary Plasterer, “But not if I was uncomfortable with
it. I don’t see myself wearing a dress, for example.”
She laughs.
Drummer Jenny Casarella concurs. “I would not want
to be something that I’m not for people to start liking
us. To me, the music industry and the listeners should listen
to the music instead of the product and the image they want
to sell.”
Upcoming for the band is a slot during Canadian Music Week
in March. Then they have tentative plans to go on the road
sometime this summer, hopefully playing some festivals across
the country.
-- Keith Powell
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