Belle Starr was known as the Queen of the Oklahoma Outlaws. She lived in the second half of the 1800s and had a reputation for being a mean gunslinger. She did time for horse theft and was killed at the age of 40. Her killers were never caught but most fingers pointed at Starr’s husband and two sons. Simply put, Belle Starr was a badass.
Skip ahead a hundred or so years and the Belle Starr that CBC Music had in for this session is no different.
The current-day Belle Starr is a new Canadian supergroup made up of Stephanie Cadman, Miranda Mulholland and Kendel Carson— three of the best fiddle players you will ever see. And if you think that fiddle music isn’t cool, think again; these three women, much like Belle Starr the outlaw, defy categories.
For this exclusive CBC Music session we asked the band to pick their top five Canadian country songs, and the choices are as eclectic as the three members of the band.
We kick the session off with this beautiful cover of Neil Young’s “Love is a Rose.”
Next up we have a song by one of Canada’s younger country music writers, Jenny Whiteley. Mulholland takes the lead vocal on this one, and she says she first heard the song performed in the town hall of Whiteley’s hometown of Elphin, Ont.. Since then, it stuck with her as an all-time classic would.
Carson says her favourite image of country music is the singing cowboy, and there is no other singing cowboy quite as good as Ian Tyson. When you hear his song “Spring Time In Alberta,” you can’t help but think of Tyson riding a horse on the prairie and whistling this tune.
No top five Canadian country songs list would be complete without a Stompin’ Tom Connors song. Belle Starr chose “A Real Canadian Girl” as their favourite.
And rounding out Belle Starr’s top five Canadian country songs is not one but two tunes by Don Messer. Belle Starr calls this the Don Messer Medley, but you might recognize the songs as “St. Anne’s Reel” and “Don Messer’s Breakdown.”
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