Okay, maybe both Carly and Tebey would disagree with such descriptions, seeing as Tebey is a country music singer and Carly’s Angels perform a comedic drag show, but this year’s Canadian Rockies International Rodeo and Music Festival (CRIR) is doing everything it can to get you to share their view of diversity in Alberta’s rodeo world. From June 26th to 28th, Strathmore will offer the likes of George Canyon, calf roping, LeAnn Rimes, Tim Hicks, bull riding, barrel racing, as well as Tebey and the Angels to cap off the diversity mandate the Alberta Rockies Gay Rodeo Association (ARGRA) has been pushing for 24 years.
Tebey will be performing on Friday night along with Tim Hicks and Kira Isabella (both Canadian Country Music Association vocalists of the year in the last five years) and Ty Herndon.
"It’s been a long, and kind of winding road for me," Tebey says. "I went to Nashville when I was 15 . . . and ended up getting a record deal with RCA in Nashville when I was 17 doing country music; made a record with Bob Rock (of Metallica, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith). The first single came out in 2003. [At 20] I moved back to Canada and became a songwriter. I wanted to stay in the music business.
"Over the years I have written a bunch of different songs for different people in different genres of music and then, about three or four years ago, I decided to start making my own records again . . . A lot of artists that are successful today made their living as songwriters [first]. A really big example right now is Sam Hunt. Sam is like the hottest thing in country music these days . . . and he had two or three number one [hits] as a songwriter over the last 18 months before he released his first single . . . Two singles ago [we did] a country cover of the Avicii song "Wake Me Up". It was a massive hit for us, a top 5 single, and went gold in Canada."
Tebey discusses their latest single, "When the Buzz Wears Off".
"[Surviving a broken heart] is a pretty common theme, especially in country music; we’re not reinventing the wheel here. But half the battle, as a writer, is to say it in a different way that hasn’t been said before.
"The thing with me is that I have some eclectic tastes in music: I feel like I’m not just a one-trick pony. Some artists do one thing, extremely well – like a traditional country artist, or a straight up pop artist. Me, I tend to move in and out. I’m still in the country music genre, but I like to blur the lines."
Given the hits that he has penned – covered by Shawn Desmand, Cher, One Direction and Chad Brownlee – apparently it’s a good idea!
"I can relate to [CRIR’s diversity approach]: I’m half black. My dad’s black, from Nigeria, and my mom’s white, from Peterborough, Ontario. So I’m used to being different, and I think it’s really cool that they’re having this ‘diversified rodeo’, because that’s what I’m about!
"Before this we’ve released two albums, and in the past two years we’ve had three top 10 singles, and one gold-selling single. So we’ve done well, and the crowds are getting bigger . . . With me, it’s about walking away with more fans than I had going in, and that’s how I treat every show."
And now, for something completely different – it must be a June thing – both Tebey and Carly, the head Angel, are writing in the air while we speak.
"L-O-L-I-T-A-S, I think. I can’t spell in the air!" Carly bemoans.
Whatever it’s called, clearly the patrons of this Inglewood lounge like the Angels, because Carly’s trio of camp has been keeping it up for 15 years, and there’s usually a month or longer waiting list to get in to see the show. When GC asks why, Carly says their longevity has produced an effective word-of-mouth network, and the intimacy of a 70-seat dinner show makes it special.
"It’s a very polished show with a start, a middle, and an end; both scripted and spontaneous . . . I get a lot of my material just from the audience. They give you so much in this city . . . We [often] spend hardly any time on the stage."
"[CRIR] asked us to do the Saturday night, on the main stage, the same night as the Village People and Leann Rimes. It’s a little nerve-wracking to go from such an intimate crowd – where you’re very one-on-one – to something that’s such a stadium setup. We’re trying to work out how we can keep the heart of Carly’s Angels there so [that] it’s not just another drag show."
CRIR is exuding the mantra ‘Go big or go home’ this year, bringing in the big-name musical talent like Canyon, Rimes and Hicks, so when considering a drag element for the show, Carly says "they said Why not the longest-running one in town?"
GC mentions that, apparently, Carly’s Angels are looking for adventure, considering the effects of summer sun and heat on their drag outfits. Carly agrees, noting the sun "is not our friend!" and expands.
"They’re kind of cute, the ARGRA guys. [They said] We’ll get some Cub [Scouts] to come up and fan you. Do you have ANY idea how that’s NOT going to help? A portable deep-freeze would work for us . . . The dinner show (with the three girls) consists of six costume changes; it’s interesting because our style of drag is classic – old-school performance pieces – whereas the whole drag community is so enveloped with the RuPaul’s Drag Race, with all these young queens doing all this new stuff. We’d like to bring back the classic performance style.
"That’s why I love Bianca del Rio so much: she’s a true original, comedienne queen. She is never going to release a goddamn album; God help us if she does! But every queen on the Drag Race has some song coming out, and I’d say only two per cent of them can actually sing!"
If you suspect that subtlety and diplomacy are not a big part of Carly’s portion of the Angels show, you would be guessing right. Wait until they have their question panel onstage, where the audience gets to ask questions about WHATEVER they want, from camp to Dr. Phyl(lis). This will be your first chance to see them without a month-long reservation list or a private party hiring fee.
"I’ve always had this motto: if you can make somebody laugh, then they’ll remember you. I’m not having children anytime soon, and so I don’t have any perpetuation of my name, etc., but I know that somewhere down the line, maybe in [another] 15 years, someone will say Oh my go;, do you remember the Carly’s Angels show? That will be my legacy."