By Dominique Wald dwald@dnews.com
If there’s one thing you should know about Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band it’s that they love telling stories.
Band members Lauralee Northcott, Judy Coder and Jennifer Epps share their tales with their award-winning music, incorporating flawless harmonies and toe-tapping melodies.
The north-central Washington group’s latest recording, “My Horse Knows the Way Home,” stole the No. 2 spot on the Top 20 Cowboy Western Music Playlist and remained on the list for 18 months. In 2014, the group won the Marilyn Tuttle Best of the Best Harmony Award from the Western Music Association.
In this 360 interview, Coder and Epps give insight on the inner workings of Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band.
360: How long have you been together as a group?
Coder: I joined this past March. I toured with them – it was almost like my audition, and it’s safe to say it went well since I’m still here.
Epps: The band started in 2000; Lauralee is the original band member.
360: Everyone brings different elements to the table, so what is the creative process like when it comes time to make the music? Coder: Sometimes Lauralee will pull something up and say, “Judy, you should sing this. Let’s try it out.”
Epps: When we’re looking at songs, we’ll just sit down and sing it through. It’s really fun because we love harmony, so we incorporate a lot of harmonizing in our music.
360: Can you talk about the importance in supporting the Old Opera House Theatre?
Coder: I love historic theaters and I love historic buildings. We would love to do all our performances in historic theaters. I’m tickled to be back in Kooskia.
Epps: It’s wonderful. I think this is the fourth time I’ve played at the opera house. It’s such a small community, but we pack that place every single time. People come all over to support it. There’s so many people from so far and wide coming to support these places.
360: What’s the most rewarding part about performing live?
Coder: It’s getting to talk to the people who are there and getting acquainted with people in the community. It’s like making friends across the country, and that’s such a great experience.
Epps: We spend a lot of time before the show starts walking around, spending time to say hi. I like to be on stage … and know who my audience is. I need to be able to connect with them.
360: What can people who are coming to the show expect?
Coder: It’s a good family show, so there will be a lot of jokes. Lauralee loves to tell jokes, but the music and the stories are just as good. Western music particularly, it tells a lot of stories. Whether it’s a story that has a punchline to it, you need to be listening to it. We will definitely be engaging the audience.
Epps: It’s going to be an awful lot of fun. We love performing for people, we love sharing our music and we want people to have a good time.
If you go What: Horse Crazy Cowgirl Band When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 21 Where: The Old Opera House Theatre, 011 S. Main St., Kooskia Cost: $12, tickets sold at the door