Mary Zilba’s on a train from Windsor to Toronto when she calls CBC Music. It’s the day before the season two finale ofThe Real Housewives of Vancouver, the reality series that’s brought the former pop star back into the spotlight. Zilba admits that while it’s hard to say if her two seasons on the show have been totally worth it (she’s arguably the target of much of the other housewives’ horrific verbal abuse), she has achieved one major goal of signing on in the first place: making music again.
“I was stagnant in my life and then the show came along, and out of the blue, asked me if I wanted to do it,” Zilba recalls. “I was very apprehensive and thought, 'I’m not really cut out for a show like this,' but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise and maybe it will get me back into music and the entertainment business.”
But Zilba laughingly admits she wasn’t interested in being the “has-been singer looking to come back and do music again.” Her stipulations for returning to the music business were simple: she’d make music for charity and she’d forget about the concept of commercial viability, focusing instead on music that mattered to her, hence her decision to embrace her dirty little secret: a love of country.
“Country’s always been in my blood,” says the former Miss Ohio, whose father raised her on a steady diet of country staples. “I’ve been a country fan for years, but it wasn’t what was going to sell back in the day. But I didn’t care anymore. As long as it touches one person, that’s all that matters.”
On last week’s RHOV episode, Zilba premiered the music video for her brand new single, a catchy country-pop number, “Hero.” On the surface, it’s a video that has good production values and it’s obvious that Zilba and her team know their way around a radio-friendly hit. But it’s the story behind the song that’s befitting a true country ballad: an ode from a proud mom to her little boy.
Zilba sits on the board of Tuberous Sclerosis Canada. About a decade ago, when he was just six years old, her son, Chase, was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis, which presents as lesions of the skin and central nervous system, as well as tumours and seizures, and can result in learning delays.
“I went into the studio wanting to write a song about my son and all the things he’s been through,” Zilba says. “Without question, he’s the most inspirational, heroic figure I’ve ever known. He’s beaten so many odds and as cliché as that may sound, he’s definitely one of these kids that teachers told me ‘He’ll never do this, he’ll never do that, he’ll never play an instrument because he can’t button his shirt, let alone play the piano or the guitar.’”
Zilba remembers how, in Grade 3, Chase tried piano, but after two lessons his teacher was emphatic: he can’t sit still, can’t remember the chords; don’t put him in music anymore. But a few years later, Chase asked to try the guitar.
“I was reluctant,” Zilba says, “but, the teacher said, ‘You know, he’s kind of gifted.’ I said, ‘What?! What do you mean gifted?’ I thought it would be the last thing, but he’s so amazing! And he plays on the track and in the video. He’s the cute boy playing the guitar on the porch with the girl.”
Zilba’s recommended country listening: Lowell George’s “Heartache.”
"It’s my favourite song," she says. "It’s so deep-felt and I’m so passionate about music and am so into lyrics. It’s about being in this place where someone breaks your heart and you wake up with it every morning and you just want it to go away, like find somewhere else to go. It’s a song that’s touched me for probably 25 years. I sing it all the time around my house and my kids are like, ‘Mom, stop singing that song!’ Bob Dylan did a remake of it, too, and I just love it."
The Real Housewives of Vancouver's season two finale airs tonight on Slice.
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