The crossroad is a place loaded with superstitions, a fork in a path, where demons, witches and elves are known to hang out.
Evil or not, these entities, who lurk on land that belongs to no one and rendezvous outside the borders of town, are known to grant wishes.
Wendy Le Van can’t say for sure, but the crossroad demon himself might have smitten her with the blues.
“I was sort of exposed to the blues by accident,” says the Maple Ridge singer-songwriter, who’s been dabbling successfully in swing, Delta blues, R&B and old time rock and roll for the past year.
“Everything about that era is cool. I love the feel and the sense of freedom that was being portrayed.”
A classically trained vocalist and cello player, Le Van stepped on stage for the first time at age three and knew that was where she wanted to stay.
When she moved to Maple Ridge nine years ago, Le Van decided to seek out the musically inclined by joining the local choral society.
She soon teamed up with another soprano and bass player Wayne Evans from legendary local 1960s R&B band The Nocturnals to form a three-piece called Hawkin’s Revenge.
The demise of Hawkin’s Revenge last year saw Le Van exploring the music scene solo and stumbling on to a blues night hosted by Randall Crow.
“I sort of learned the blues through osmosis just by hanging around and listen to it,” says Le Van.
A chance meeting with Jack Lavin of Powder Blues fame helped build her latest project “The Wendy Biscuit Blues Band” featuring Lavin on bass, Gary Koliger on guitar, Dave Webb on keyboard and John Nolan on drums.
(Biscuit’ is the pet name Le Van’s father gave her when she was born.)
The model behind their music is to allow the musicians to let loose and express themselves while interpreting tunes by legends including Irma Thomas, Koko Taylor, Etta James, Memphis Minnie, Billy Holiday, Muddy Waters, T- Bone Walker, Howlin’ Wolf and Bessie Smith.
“We rely heavily on creative interpretation of what people think is classic blues but there is so much room to become creative within those 12 bars, there are so many directions you can go melodically and harmonically,” says Le Van.
Le Van is in the midst of recording her first album with the Wendy Biscuit Blues Band which will feature Willie MacCalder, another from Powder Blues alumnus, and Maple Ridge guitarist Marty Bernard.
“It’s the feel of the blues that I connect with, the soul, “ says Le Van.
“You have the ability to take a simple chord progression and interpret the melody in a number of different ways and make it very personal. Then there’s the connection that you create on stage with other players as well, which I never experienced before coming from an orchestra pit.”
In fact, letting loose was something Le Van found hard to do at first.
“I had to just trust that there was enough of a musical connection to create something amazing.”
Clearly, Le Van and her band are making a connection that’s evident in the gigs they’ve landed and radio airplay her original compositions are receiving.
Wendy Biscuit is a regular at venues in Gastown, on Main Street, Commercial Drive and performs tonight at the prestigious Cory Weed’s Cellar Jazz Club.
Crossroad Friend, a song, she penned about the “devil in disguise” who grant wishes, has been picked up for an episode of the Warner Brother’s T.V. show Supernatural.
“A year later, I can’t believe how far I’ve gone,” she says.
Besides sheer luck, Le Van credits the musicians in her band for the success they’ve had on the blues circuit.
“One thing I learned early on was to surround myself with musicians who are more experienced and better than I can every hope to be,” she says.
“So I attribute all my success to my band because they are so good. The support that they give whether it’s musical support, or moral support, or friendship, it’s all valuable.”
Showtime
The Wendy Biscuit Blues Band plays their first hometown gig at the Kingfisher Waterfront Grill, 23840 River Road on Friday, March 30 at 8 p.m. Hear Wendy Biscuit on ReverbNation.
