For
Love and Learn, “we had a theme of love gone wrong.
The album has a lot of new things about it. I spent hours
listening to old material to come up with many of the songs,
but we arranged them differently and had different players.
I also got some original material from new writers.”
Among
the thematic tracks are “No Expectations”, “What
Makes Me Hang Around?”, “Lonely Blows Under Your
Door” and “Nobody Home”. One song, “Black
Ink, Blue Paper”, came from the American music stars
Dixie and Tom T. Hall. “I told them our theme, and
they came back with a song that fit perfectly,” Janet
said.
With
the band Wildwood, co-starring her husband Serge Bernard
(banjo), and another married couple, Roxeen (bass) and Ryan
Roberts (guitar) of Nova Scotia, Janet appears at bluegrass
festivals and events across Atlantic Canada, in Nashville
and elsewhere. More than once, her powerful voice has earned
her the top-female-vocalist honors at the Eastern Canadian
Bluegrass Awards in Truro, Nova Scotia.
“Serge
and I feel passionate about our music, and so do Roxeen
and Ryan,” Janet said. “With all of us channeling
our energies in the same direction, it’s much easier.
We’re comfortable and confident in what each of us
brings to the band, which allows us to go out and have fun.
“People
are becoming a lot more familiar with our music, and we’re
always networking. We meet so many people through music,
and it all opens new doors.”
Janet
favors songs about home, love and faith. In 2000, she launched
her first album, My Heart Is a Diamond, at the PEI Bluegrass
and Old Time Music Festival in Rollo Bay. Then came: Hills
of Home (2001); Looking Toward Sunrise (2003); Christmas
by the Fireside (seasonal, 2004); He Will Bring You Home
(gospel, 2005) and My Dixie Darlin’ (2006).
Looking
toward sunrise, I clearly see,
A love, a light, a promise,
Just waitin’ there for me,
Casting shadows behind me,
There’s a new light before me.
A new day before me now lies,
Looking toward sunrise.
From “Looking Toward Sunrise”, Written by Janet
McGarry and Serge Bernard, 2003
“We
have so much fun doing what we do,” Janet said. “For
whatever reason, the music has worked. When I made my first
CD, I had no idea how it would go over. It surprised the
daylights out of me when it sold well.”
On
Janet’s gospel CD in 2005, Nova Scotia star J.P. Cormier
played fiddle, mandolin and banjo. PEI’s Catherine
MacLellan sang harmony vocals.
“I
called J.P. and told him we needed really good lonesome
fiddling,” said Serge. “Sure enough, he showed
up. With no rehearsal, he listened to half a song and then
the intro before he said, ‘Okay, press that red button,
and away we go.’ He put on some of the most amazing
tracks you could hear a guy perform.”
With
Serge, Janet earned a 2005 East Coast Music Award nomination
for Christmas by the Fireside. Starting in 2001, she attracted
several other ECMA nominations. She won top-female-vocalist
honors at the 2004 PEI Music Awards.
The
middle child in a family of nine, Janet grew up in tiny
Iona, PEI. Her father Peter, an entertainer at dances and
house parties, inspired her to love music. Soon Janet and
her brother Raymond performed too.
“I
was small, but my brother and I were encouraged to sing,”
Janet said. “We went from singing at the house to concerts
in community halls.”
When
offstage, Janet has worked at payroll and personnel for
the PEI Public Service Commission. “Serge and I still
work and save our holidays for when we need them in music,”
she said.
“I
love what we’re doing,” Janet said. “I just
couldn’t have imagined that life would be so full.
We get to go out on the weekends and play music. We meet
so many wonderful people. I can’t ask for anything
more. I’m happy.”
