Toni Vere looking forward to being on Ellen, or at least returning to Lethbridge.

The Lethbridge Folk Club also has a big show this week, April 16 at the Wolf’s Den, with Hashmagandy — a  pop/rock/folk collective built around three suprb Calgary-based songwriters.

Toni Vere is looking forward to returning to Lethbridge with her band as the show is a homecoming of sorts for her. “I used to live in Lethbridge for 20 years.  Actually the folk club was the first place I ever played right after high school,” said the Calgary-based singer-songwriter, on her lunch break from work at Cat Rentals.

Hashmagandy, also including lead guitarist/vocalist Carla Olive and bassist Amy Bishop, came together as a result of  Vere needing musicians for her solo CD. They had so much fun recording in 2009 that they decided to form a band, combining the songwriting talents of all three musicians. Drummer Bill Nordrick, who used to play in a Lethbridge band called Straight Clean, will be rounding out the group for the Lethbridge show.

“We were in Coaldale a year ago we had a lot of people who came out, several people who knew me in Lethbridge,” she continued adding they are best known for the song “Girl Next Door,” which tells a partially true story based on her experiences  cming to terms with her lesbianism and the very catchy rocker “I’m Gonna Be On Ellen” which should be the new “On The Cover of the Rolling Stone.”

“Well who doesn’t want to be on Ellen? It’s a really fun song. When we started handing out the CD, people seemed to like that song. It’s a lighthearted way to look at the music world,” she laughed adding the success of “Girl Next Door” came as a bit of a surprise.
“‘Girl Next Door’ became the first single. It wasn’t my choice. They just started playing it on the Americana internet radio station,” she said.

“I struggled for a lot of years to come to terms with it,” she said adding ‘Girl Next Door,’ isn’t 100 per cent true as she exaggerated parts of her story of lesbianism for the sake of the song. “I’m not a really in your face girl. I worried about what people would think and I was afraid for my job. But my friends, family and co-workers accept me for who I am and I’ve never been happier since I stopped trying to hide and pretend and accepted who I am,” she continued adding she married and had children and is now a proud grandmother.

“I’m not there to be a lesbian on stage. That’s just one colour of my personality.  Hashmagandy isn’t just lesbians rocking out,” she said.
“All three of us are songwriters and we all complement each other. We are folk rock with a little bit of pop. There’s a traditional feel with a little bit of Coldplay, a little bit of Blue Rodeo with some Tom Petty,” she described.

The show is April 16 at 8 p.m. at The Wolf’s Den. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members.