ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 19, 1997 TAG: 9704210100
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG THE ROANOKE TIMES
Maybe the members of Prairie Oyster were on to something when they named themselves after a home remedy.
Home remedies, after all, have a tendency to last through the ages, and Prairie Oyster, the Canadian country band named for an egg-based hangover cure, has managed to hang around since 1974.
"In the original band, we had a repertoire and had some gigs booked and no name," said Russell deCarle, the band's lead singer then and now. "One day our then-drummer came in with a name that his mother came up with. I didn't think I'd still be explaining it 20 years down the road."
For those of you not well versed in this high-cholesterol delicacy, here's deCarle's recipe for a prairie oyster: "One raw egg and hair of the dog. Spice to taste."
And here's the recipe for his six member band: bass guitar, keyboards, pedal steel, mandolin, heavy on the roots.
"We've always been pretty true to our roots, for sure," deCarle said. "We really hold traditional country music in very high esteem, you know?"
He fears that country musicians today are forgetting their roots. "Imagine jazz musicians shunning Louis Armstrong." he said. "For us, the real deal is traditional hillbilly music, that's the real soul, where the stuff came from. We're very conscious about those traditions."
That means in concert, mixed in with the group's original set list, there will be the occasional cover of a song by Lefty Frizzell or Hank Williams.
"The whole new country thing, it's more like pop music in the '70s or '80s," said deCarle, who was born in Newmarket, Ontario. "Nashville signs an artist and puts their first single on country radio, and if they don't pick up, then bang. There's not a lot of artist development like there used to be. Even Reba McEntire and Vince Gill and George Strait - if they only had a shot at one or two albums, where would they be?"
In Canada, there is more artist development, he said, a lucky thing for Prairie Oyster, which just released its fifth album.
The group has a strong Canadian following, and a smaller one in the United States. Band members are hoping this spring will make a difference, opening for noted country acts like Collin Raye and Kathy Mattea. The band was scheduled to open for Raye in Roanoke tonight, but the show was canceled Tuesday.
Canada's country music scene is similar to the scene in America, deCarle said. The history is essentially the same: rooted in music of Celtic settlers. Texas had an added Spanish and German influence, he said. In Canada, the western prairies were settled by the Ukrainians, and their folk music. Blended together, they form a base for music in both countries, he said.
When you're looking through old country albums, remember this, deCarle said: Hank Snow was Canadian.
This spring, promoting "Blue Plate Special" on Velvel, a New York independent label, marks the band's first extensive U.S. tour in three years.
The new CD is somewhere between honky-tonk and western swing, which is precisely where the band wants to be. "The band is quite eclectic, and I think it works," deCarle said. "I hear the stuff, and it's still so fresh, we've managed to keep it very fresh after being together so long."
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: "We've always been pretty true to our roots, for sure,"by CNBsays Prairie Oyster lead singer Russell deCarle. "We really hold
traditional country music in very high esteem, you know?" color