Country music is a genre that has undergone many rapid changes since the 1990s, when pop-country crossover artists like Shania Twain and LeAnn Rimes broadened and reshaped the sound’s fanbase. There are as many country sounds as there are artists these days, and any stigma that once came along with the genre title has mostly been forgotten.
Today the many eras and sounds of country music can even cross over with themselves, and one need look no further than Jackson Hollow for proof of country music’s modern versatility in the 21st century.
Husband-and-wife duo Mike Sanyshyn and Tianna Lefebvre, both of whom had already earned acclaim as solo artists, pulled together a group that Sanyshyn calls “the best people who we knew and felt comfortable with, [and] that we have a musical and personal connection with,” to form Jackson Hollow in 2015.
“Steadfast” multi-instrumentalist and engineer Eric Reed and “wise beyond his years” bassist and vocalist Charlie Frie, whose roots were primarily in folk music, provided the final pieces to a sound that blends the best parts of down-home Bluegrass, 1950s balladry, and 1980s Arena Country in a way that feels both modern and timeless.
Lefebvre’s big voice conjures names like Trisha Yearwood or Reba McIntyre while lush backing harmonies layer in the heavenly feel of classic Rankin Family, but light instrumentation that focuses on the tinkling interplay of fiddle, mandolin, and banjo gives Jackson Hollow’s music the timeless grit that has always defined country.
Erich Saide photo
This collision of influences began in childhood for both Sanyshyn and Lefebvre. “For me, I was raised on country and old-time music,” says Sanyshyn, “so I was drawn in at an early age. Tianna was also hearing this music growing up and had a cousin who sang country.”
“We were both bitten by the bluegrass bug in 2010 in Bellevue, Washington, at The Wintergrass Convention. We were blown away by the talent and down-to-earth personas of the artists we saw, including Rhonda Vincent, The Time Jumpers, and Dailey and Vincent.”
BC has a particularly vibrant bluegrass-influenced musical community, which Sanyshyn attributes to another genre-defier from the turn of the 21st century: the Coen Brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou and its soundtrack full of Great Depression-era sounds from the American deep south.
That soundtrack, which featured legends like the Stanley Brothers alongside modern folk luminaries like Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss, “opened up doors for bluegrass music and inspired a lot of people to learn more about it,” says Sanyshyn.
Like many other musical artists, Jackson Hollow lost their greatest avenue for promotion in 2020 when the COVID-19 outbreak brought touring and indoor performance to a grinding halt, but Sanyshyn and Lefebvre chose not to wait for a chaotic world to right itself again.
“Tianna and I were able to adapt and start recording from home, which opened up more opportunities,” says Sanyshyn. Their songs and videos recorded in the home studios of each band member even caught the ears of Virginia’s Mountain Fever Records, who signed the band to their label in June 2021.
Since then, the band’s trajectory has only continued upward, with recognition from the International Bluegrass Music Association in South Carolina, BC Country Music Association, and Bluegrass Canada.
They’ve also received high praise from Canadian country music staples like Wendell Ferguson, who calls their sound “pure bluegrass but with a freshness and vibrancy that seems to be missing in today’s more traditional groups,” and “exemplary in every way.”
Sanyshyn hopes to win over the town of Osoyoos because of their multigenerational country sound, not in spite of it. He seeks to “open minds and hearts to this mix of upfront vocal harmonies and precision instrumentation,” so that audience members who thought they didn’t like country music might give it another look.
Jackson Hollow will perform as part of the Osoyoos Spring Festival on Friday, May 6 at the Osoyoos Community Theatre. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online through the Venables Theatre Box Office at venablestheatre.ca.
More information about the Osoyoos Spring Festival and its many other performers can be found at the Arts Council website, osoyoosartscouncil.com.
