by LORRAINE CARPENTER

You can't take the country out of Carolyn Mark. B.C.'s mistress of the C&W ditty - as heard on her Mint Records creations, Party Girl and Terrible Hostess - has been known to use booze to cure her blues, but in the sober early morning hours, she just laughs the pain away.

"On our last American tour, we made a dollar a day - 15 days, 15 dollars," says Mark, chuckling through the sad story. "We tried out a booking agent for the first time and it was less than satisfactory. Like, in L.A., we played Sunday at 5 p.m. and the name of the bar wasn't outside the venue, it wasn't in any weeklies and the soundman mixed like we were rock 'n' roll, just to make matters worse. But people were really kind to us, they took us in and fed us and stuff, so it was pretty impossible to stay mad on the whole tour, and I was trying really hard."

The Room-mates, her band and real-life colocs, are guitarist Tolan McNeil and drummer Garth Johnson, though they've been a sextet and a quartet in years past. "It's like the movie Alive," she says, agreeing that cannibalism would be a practical way to dispose of those band members you just can't pay. "Save your fingernails for last, you'll need 'em for diggin'. But [McNeil] has to stay home this time. I thought we could either both go and be broke or we could both stay home and be broke or we could split up and use our special powers."

Johnson's out too, meaning Mark's flying solo this time around, but she's got buddies to party with in every port. In her travels, she'll be recording duets for an upcoming album, set to feature Ontario's the Silverhearts, Luke Doucet and Luther Wright, B.C.'s Ford Pier and Bottleneck and Alberta's Corb Lund. Meanwhile the Corn Sisters, her country cover duo with Miss Neko Case, is coming back from the backburner.

"We've expanded to include Kelly Hogan!" announces Mark, thrilled to have the Chicago-based chan-toozy on board for the three-part harmonies, to be set to tape once Case recovers from her latest tour.

In the meantime, Mark is crossing the country to belt her heart out, crack her jokes and sell her wares - CDs, screen-printed Terrible Hostess aprons and Party Girl lingerie and The Terrible Hostess' Recipes for Disaster.

"There's some nice meals and there's some for when 10 people show up at your house and you have to feed them, or dinner that's really good as leftovers for breakfast," Mark explains. "There's drinks too, like Bourbon Decay, a shot of bourbon on ice with ginger ale and a twist of lemon, and if you can get the spicy ginger ale from South Carolina, it's even better. Oof, it's too good!"

And hopefully it'll stave off the homesickness and pining for her Victoria homies, aka "The Hoser Choir," in proper Canuck fashion.

"Once we were partying with Paul Spence in a backyard in Calgary, hoser style. You know when you buy firewood at the gas station, it comes in a red mesh bag? Tolan wore it as a top, with arm holes and a head hole. It was pretty awesome - a Canadian heritage moment!"

With Bottleneck and Geoff Berner at
Petit Campus on Sunday, Oct. 5, 8:30pm, $8.50

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