Getting to know Janet McGarry

A 15-Year veteran of the bluegrass circuit, singer and mandolin player Janet McGarry has won Female Vocalist of the Year at the Eastern Canadian Bluegrass Music Awards five years in a row, and is on the most recent volume of The Daughters of Bluegrass, recorded near Nashville. From the largest festivals across North America to the smallest community fundraisers in her home province of PEI, she and her band, Wildwood, are always ready to play. Janet spoke with Saltscapes about when she has time for laundry, who her fans are, and the meaning of bluegrass.

Q You must be very busy, holding down a full-time job as a personnel officer with the PEI government and pursuing music.
A You can’t quit your day job. You do your laundry Sunday night, you work on it Monday night and then you put everything back in the camper.

Q With nine siblings, your family must have influenced you.
A My father played music. My brother and I sang. We would do church benefits and community halls. We’re a close family. We all live on the Island—they’re all only half an hour away. We still gather at the family home.

Q Do you remember your first performance?
A It was in a church hall in Vernon River. Anne Murray was popular—I did one of her songs. As nervous as I was, I enjoyed the anticipation of performing and making people happy.

Q How did you get into bluegrass?
A My first bluegrass festival was a beautiful starlit night. There was a song, “Slippers With Wings.” It touched me; it was pure music. I thought, wow, if that’s bluegrass music, I want to do that.

Q Your husband, Serge, plays banjo in your band. How did you meet?
A Through music. Serge played on my CDs long before we were a couple. Because we share the same passion for the music, it’s so easy to build upon. We work all day at our day jobs and all evening at our music.

Q Describe the average fan of your music.
A There’s no average. A little girl, maybe five, bought a CD from me yesterday. Another fan, she’s 84, never misses a festival. And they’re everywhere in between.

Q You do a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. You’ve played with JP Cormier. What crossover is there between bluegrass and other musical genres?
A There’s a lot of jazz, a lot of blues in it. JP played on two of my CDs. He came right here to our home. We have our own recording studio. 

Q You are changing some of your band members?
A We finish our last festival with our current band members on Labour Day weekend, then they leave for Nashville.

Q And their replacements?
A Naomi Doncaster is 17 and Kyle Legere is 22. Naomi is from Sackville, New Brunswick. Kyle is from Amherst. They’re boyfriend and girlfriend. Our last bandmates were husband and wife. Here’s two young people who love what we do, traditional bluegrass music.

Q What is traditional bluegrass to you?
A It’s an honest, pure music. It’s acoustic, so it’s not covered up. It’s family. It’s back to my roots. It’s sitting-on-the-front-porch singing. It’s downhome times. Here or in Nashville, these performers are not above their audience.

Q That sounds like East Coast music.
A Yes, and in bluegrass you make friends for a lifetime. I don’t think that happens in a lot of music genres. So I’m very happy singing bluegrass music.