Ruth Minnikin and Her Bandwagon @ The Dakota Tavern
By: Anne-Marie Bissada
Posted: June 23, 2009 – Toronto, Canada
I was at The Painted Lady waiting for the Denitia Odigie to come out, when she cancelled at the last minute. The replacement act seemed a little too loud for me that night, so I headed over to the Dakota Tavern, hoping for a show to maintain the folk-vibe I had been listening to all evening.
We weren't allowed inside right away as the Dakota was at capacity, but as the music was echoing outside, I won't lie, it sounded like bad karaoke. When we were finally allowed inside the karaoke scare evaporated as I was hit with a great surprise—Ruth Minnikin and her Bandwagon were belting out a country-folk hit and had the entire crowd bopping away.
The Dakota Tavern seemed the perfect place for Minnikin and Her Bandwagon to perform. The bleached-out wooden panelling surrounding the platform looked like a scene from an old western film, complete with an old-time piano near a cow skull with horns.
Minnikin's voice exuded both a peacefulness and playfulness at the same time. Her Bandwagon included fiddle, bass clarinet, bass and backup vocals, while Minnikin switched between accordion and guitar. "It was a real treat," she said, to make music with her friends on stage. Everyone playing was decked out in some form of western clothing—if not a plaid dress, then some cowboy boots. You almost forgot they were from Nova Scotia, and not Tennessee.
The music continued to win me over with the catchy lyrics of "My Way With Words" and "Snow Day", which was a personal favourite. By the last song everyone was dancing and singing along. Running into Ruth Minnikin and Her Bandwagon was definitely a great twist of fate.
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