Lone Wolff
to Lone Star

>> A bittersweet beginning
for Sophia Wolff and the Cubs

by LORRAINE CARPENTER

“The ’50s was the first time that raw, sexual energy was accessible to teenagers through music, and I’m naturally drawn to that classic sound. Everything I do is simply spreading the gospel of good music.”

The gospel according to local rock ’n’ roll dance instructor (recently turned singer-songwriter) Sophia Wolff was handed down to her during a nomadic childhood spent criss-crossing the continent with her C&W, R&R-loving parents.

“Hee-Haw was the highlight of our week, and my dad was always in charge of the music at church, so my sister and I would sing every Sunday. We were actually the first altar girls at our church here in Montreal,” recalls Wolff.

Setting singing aside for a time, Wolff spent her school years in France and England, returning to Montreal in 1996 in search of good times and raw retro.

“People were saying, ‘Oh, we’ve got ’50s cars here, ’50s bands, clothes, everything!’ and I’m, like, ‘Hey, great! Where do we go to jive?’ ‘Where do we go to what?’ That’s when I started the jiving school.”

Surfacing before and surviving long after the so-called swing revival, Miss Wolff’s Jiving School continues to mould moves for the spring-toed and “rhythmically challenged” alike. Driving and jiving south every Easter to give crash courses at the Viva Las Vegas rockabilly fest, Wolff also sells her style on video at jiving.com. But now, with dancing down pat and DJing on a roll (“Daisy Mae,” Wednesdays, 11 p.m. to midnight on CISM, 89.3FM), this vivacious vixen is off and running in a new rockin’ role.

Cue Cubs
Inspired by classic country figures Patsy Cline and Rose Maddox, ’50s rockers Charline Arthur, Janis Martin and Wanda Jackson, as well as dashing dudes Elvis and George Jones, Wolff first sang backup with the Camaros at her own Jello Bar swing night, then at NDG’s legendary country hideaway, the Wheel Club, culminating in guest spots with the Howlin’ Hound Dogs.

“You wouldn’t know it, but I’m really shy,” says Wolff. “Getting out there and singing is really scary at first. My guitarist, Noël [Thibault, from the Howlin’ Hound Dogs], is the one who really pushed me, and he’s so talented, he’s like an Eddie Cochrane of our time.”

Wolff’s accomplished Cubs also include the Crazy Rhythm Daddies’ Peter Sandmark on snare, pop historian Craig Morrison on steel, rhythm guitarist Jim Dandy and upright bassist Richard Gélineau, both from the Howlin’ Hound Dogs, and furious fiddler Bill Bland. Up-and-coming Montreal country stars Lil’ Andy and Angela Desveaux also sing with Sophia, and both will be on hand when the band launches their debut disc, Afternoon Fun.

Of the album’s 17 songs, recorded live and produced by Sophia and “Ma and Pa Wolff Productions,” 10 are Wolff originals, mixing rockabilly raunch and jumpin’ jump blues with bits of bluegrass, hillbilly hues, Cajun rhythms and two tunes en français. But, despite alt-country, O Brother Where Art Thou, and the all-around roots music revival, Wolff still fights country-phobes.

“To say that Montrealers don’t like country is bullshit. It’s just that they haven’t had enough access to it. When we play, people are really attracted to the flavour we give it because it’s accessible and fun, and audiences aren’t dumb, they can feel when the music is coming from the heart. I’m singing the best I can, playing guitar the best I can, and all the other guys are masters at what they do, so what you see is what you get.”

And it’s good to go while the getting is good, but Miss Wolff has bad news for her friends and fellow country fans, rockabilly retro-ists and would-be jivers.

“On October 17—and it’s heartbreaking ’cause I love it here—I’m going to Austin, Texas, for two months. Then I’ll come back for Christmas and decide where I want to live. I’ve done a lot in this town, so I wanna try it out in Texas.”

Wolff insists that her band will maintain a long-distance relationship, playing locally when she’s in town, in Vegas come Easter and elsewhere as circumstances dictate. For now, she only wants to touch base with local music lovers and friends at tomorrow night’s launch, now doubling as a goodbye party. As to what she’ll do if she settles in Austin, Sophia says her ambitions are simple.

“I just can’t sit still. There’s gotta be good music and good dancing, and if it’s not there, you know I’m gonna stick my big foot in it. I like a challenge.” :

Joint CD launch with Ronnie Hayward at le Swimming on Friday, Sept. 13, 9pm, $5

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