By Jay Scott Kanes

WOLFVILLE, Nova Scotia, Canada -- Joining two music stars from a neighboring province has placed Nova Scotia’s Roxeen and Ryan Roberts in one of Atlantic Canada’s leading bands.

Together with Prince Edward Island’s Janet McGarry (lead vocals, mandolin) and Serge Bernard (banjo), Roxeen and Ryan form Wildwood, a popular country-bluegrass group. Ryan plays guitar. Roxeen’s on acoustic bass. They both sing and write songs.

“Their work ethic is phenomenal,” said McGarry. “I’m not even sure I can keep up.”

“Actually, Roxeen and I can play all the stringed instruments,” Ryan said. “We love performing with Janet and Serge. Janet, in particular, is a very natural performer.”

The problem of living in different provinces can be managed. “We practice a lot by email and phone,” Ryan said. “At gigs, we also practice together and make a weekend of it.”

The Roberts duo played on McGarry’s latest CD, Love and Learn. “Ryan’s one of the best songwriters ever to come out of Eastern Canada, and he’s gaining prominence,” McGarry said.

There’s a home on the mountain that used to be our old house.
But not a thing was left in it by the time we moved out.
Though we lived there together, we could feel so alone,
Even when we’d both be there, there was nobody home.
From “Nobody Home”, Ryan Roberts, Recorded by Janet McGarry, 2007

“I seem to have a talent for project writing,” Ryan said. “If someone spells out what they want, I can put something together. I’ve had more than 20 songs recorded by various artists, going all the way to Nashville, in styles like Motown, jazz, country, bluegrass and swing. I’ve done stuff for films and commercials too.”

In 2006, Roxeen and Ryan released a jazzy, holiday CD, The Spirit of Christmas.

I know that you know it’s true.
There’s nothing more that I would rather do.
It’s my favorite time of year,
And I’d be only glad to share
Christmas on the town with you….
From “Christmas on the Town”, Ryan Roberts, Recorded by Roxeen and Ryan Roberts, 2006

“I wrote ‘Christmas on the Town’ for a CD project by the Novelty Salesmen,” Ryan said. “The song became a theme for shopping on Spring Garden Road in Halifax. Its success opened doors for me.”

Last year, Roxeen and Ryan issued Old Songs, a country-bluegrass CD promptly nominated for a 2008 East Coast Music Award.

Now the old songs,
They still remind me of those times.
Left far behind me in my mind,
These old memories play on,
Sweet as the melodies of old songs….
From “Old Songs”, Ryan Roberts, Recorded by Roxeen and Ryan Roberts, 2007

“Writing a song can be tedious, but I don’t call it difficult,” Ryan said. “There’s a process – trying to find an angle, something intriguing. I spend time looking into the topic, think it through and then decide what I want to say.

“I used to sit with a guitar, trying to come up with lines. Now I realize that people want to know exactly what songs are saying. So I’ll paraphrase my concept. For about a month, I’ll edit non-stop, word for word. In a three-minute song, not a word can be spared. It’s worth a whole day’s work to strengthen one word.

“Sometimes an idea comes within minutes, but there’s still a lengthy process. Maybe I can write a verse I’ll keep within half an hour, but to be sure I’ve said everything and to wrap it up properly takes much longer.”

When onstage, Ryan looks intense, highly focused. “What motivates me the most in music is the feeling at the end that I’ve done what I wanted to do,” Ryan said. “I love playing music, listening or even talking about it.

“When I worked at other jobs, I always ached to be out of there. No money could make me want to stay. Despite the financial struggles as a musician, I don’t want to switch to anything else.

“The more you play, the more you meet new people and open doors. If you’re versatile, it becomes easier to make a living. We can teach music, record someone or travel to perform.

“At home, we do without cable TV, satellite dishes or cell phones. We avoid a lot of things that people take as necessities, but which add to living costs. We don’t drink or smoke. We don’t eat out all the time. But we do indulge in the daily enjoyment of music. Doing what we love while still having a little food and a roof over our heads, we can be happy.”

Bluegrass music thrills Ryan the most. “After the stage performances, there’s a lot of jamming with everyone from professional musicians to people who know two chords on a guitar,” he said. “In 2001, I met Roxeen at my first bluegrass festival. When I saw her carrying a big double bass, I thought: ‘Wow, she’s quite a looker, the kind of girl I’d marry.’ ”

Since their wedding in 2004, Roxeen and Ryan have built a house, had a child and made music their full-time professions. “We’re lucky to have a little flexibility in our schedules,” Ryan said. “We teach from home on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, allowing Mondays and Fridays to travel for weekend gigs.”

Always eager, they sometimes perform minus their Wildwood partners, especially in Nova Scotia. Roxeen hails from the Annapolis Valley and Ryan from Glace Bay, Cape Breton. Together, they live in Wolfville.

“Cape Breton has a lot of musicians,” Ryan said. “But when I was young, my parents seldom turned on a radio. They didn’t play records or tapes. We had no way to hear music. Instead, we watched TV, especially Hockey Night in Canada.”

Things changed when Ryan left home at age 15 to play ice hockey while at high school in Windsor, Nova Scotia. There, he boarded in a family home “full of music”, musical instruments and an extensive records collection.

“Before that, I hadn’t even heard of Stan Rogers, the famous Atlantic Canadian singer-songwriter,” Ryan said. “Suddenly exposed to so much, I tried to soak up what I could.

“But I’d always loved music. At age eight, I earned money by collecting beer bottles at baseball fields and hockey rinks. Then I bought a guitar, but no one showed me how to play. Now I’ve gone through a lot of guitars, but still have that first one.

“I played minor hockey, mostly at right wing. Later I had a Dalhousie University (in Halifax) scholarship to try out for the hockey team. I even played in Junior A for about three weeks.

“In Halifax, I met new friends and attended open mikes. Hockey cut into my music time. I remember calling my parents to say that hockey had become less important. As great parents, they let me pursue what I wanted.

“My other claim to hockey fame was that before going entirely into music, I worked as a dental hygienist and used to clean Sidney Crosby’s teeth.”

In Roxeen’s family, a great-grandmother wrote songs. Roxeen’s grandmother, nicknamed “the Valley yodeling sensation”, stars at variety shows, as does her mother. Her sister Andrea and other relatives write songs too.

“My wife’s been active in music her whole life. She writes songs from her heart,” Ryan said. “I’ve learned a lot by listening to her songs.”

Look at the full moon over the mountain.
It’s shining down on you and me.
It shines so brightly down on our love, dear.
Look at the full moon on you and me….
The stars above us remind me of our love
The way they shimmer in the sky.
They’re growing closer and getting brighter.
The simple love, you and I.
From “Full Moon”, Roxeen Roberts, Recorded by Roxeen and Ryan Roberts, 2007

Roxeen played in On the Move, a family band, and later in Golden Raven, a gospel act. In 2002, she released Tell Me, Mister, a country-bluegrass solo CD that competed for an East Coast Music Award.

“In Roxeen’s family, so much happens musically,” Ryan said. “I’ve even co-written a song, ‘The Last Rose of Summer’, with her grandmother.

“You never know what’ll happen in life, but I hope we’ll always be active in music.”

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