by LORRAINE CARPENTER

You may recognize her as a former member of country-rock collective the Sonny Best Band, or as one third of bluegrass band Yonder Hill, or as a familiar face from the Wheel Club’s old-time country Mondays or Barfly’s bluegrass Sundays. CBC radio listeners will remember her from last year’s Roots Montreal series, where acoustic performances of her early material were featured prominently. But Angela Desveaux strays far from the purist pack on her debut album, Wandering Eyes, a genre-defying collection of songs to sway and sulk to.

Desveaux’s country roots are immediately apparent, particularly in the melancholy strains of her vocals and Jean Guy Grenier’s pedal steel guitar, but they almost disappear in her pop/rock backdrop, featuring guitarist Mike Feuerstack (Snailhouse, Wooden Stars, Islands), bassist Eric Digras (Tinker, Bionic, Sonny Best) and drummer Gilles Castilloux (the Field Register), among others.

“I’m definitely doing the splits here,” says Desveaux, with one foot in the indie rock scene and the other in a cowboy boot. Aside from Yonder Hill (with Katie Moore and Dara Weiss) and guest appearances on records by fellow singer-songwriters like Lil’ Andy, Desveaux has distanced herself from the local country scene since she recorded her solo demo two years ago.

“I learned so much at [the bluegrass and country open mics]—the first time I sang one of my own songs was at Barfly,” she recalls. “But there are a lot of borders and a lot of rules. You go when you wanna have a good time, but when you wanna be creative, you’ve gotta put yourself in a more flexible environment.”

Born in Montreal and raised in Cape Breton, Desveaux already had indie rock connections at the Maritimer-run Ships at Night label and Treatment Room studio, yet she chose to pursue one of the city’s most sought-after producers.

“I dropped a demo under Howard [Bilerman]’s welcome mat, and he really liked it,” says Desveaux, whose mind was promptly blown by Bilerman’s MO. Not only did he co-engineer, play drums and enlist producer Brian Paulson (Archers of Loaf, Wilco, Pony Up) to achieve the radio-ready sound Desveaux was after, but he sent her record to an acquaintance at Chicago’s Thrill Jockey Records, who promptly handed her an international deal.

Bilerman’s skills as a producer are renowned, and being a manager-figure isn’t much of a stretch, but who knew about his motivational-speaking skills?

“We sat up late nights just talking about what my dreams were, and he would work hard at trying to realize them, or at least give me the attitude that I could do it,” Desveaux reports. “I never worked with anybody like that—I’ve always dealt with people who were like, ‘Put some more make-up on, you don’t look lively enough.’”

Armed with new-found confidence, Desveaux is ready to face what she calls “those filthy people in the music industry.” After this month’s regional tour, she’ll travel to Western Canada, the American South and Europe, all new territory for the singer-songwriter. And with a sound at the crossroads of “alt” and classic country, adult contemporary and indie rock, she’s as curious as anyone about where her music will lead her.

“I can see that this project is gonna take different pathways, and I couldn’t be more excited about that.”

With Mike O’Brien, Yonder Hill at la Sala Rossa tonight, Thursday, Sept. 21, 9 p.m., $7

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