The Kansas City Blues Society is thrilled to support our incredible local musicians. Brigett & Her Bandoliers is a dynamic ensemble that effortlessly weaves together soulful storytelling and energetic grooves. Learn a bit more about Brigett Owens, singer for Brigett & Her Bandoliers.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Billie Holiday, Koko Taylor, and Susan Tedeschi. It may seem like an incongruous group at first glance, but I fell in love with their storytelling and raw, bleeding vocals. I grew up on all kinds of music, from Allman Brothers and Otis Redding to Queen and Prince.
I started singing at a very young age with my stepmother. She had a big family and on Sundays after church they would get together for an afternoon of lunch and singing. They sang old hymns and folk songs with perfect harmonies as only families can. It was beautiful and also intimidating. My stepmother just told me to find a space and blend in. When I finally got to choose the music I played on my very own Panasonic with two tape decks, I recorded the two Travis’ from the country music countdown: Randy Travis and Travis Tritt. I loved Randy’s laid back style and Travis Tritt’s hard driving bluesy country.
In college, I fell in love with Billie Holiday. She was beautiful and broken and unapologetic. I met Koko Taylor at the Grand Emporium a couple of years later. She shook every hand in line from her walk out of the green room to the stage. She was well into her 70’s and poured out sweat and heartache for two hours straight, and it seemed like she was just getting started. Susan Tedeschi grabbed my heart at age 21. All three of these artists share something with all blueswomen: equal parts of vulnerability and strength. They’re hard and soft at the same time. They’re truth tellers of the female experience.
Do you want to tell a story about the spelling of your name?
My name or the band name? In both cases, I had no choice. My parents were young and it was the late 1970s. I was supposed to be named after Brigitte Bardot and my mother misspelled it on the paperwork. I don’t mind. In fact, I’ve always liked that my name means “strength and power” and that there have been so many different spellings throughout history. But, I may be the only one that Siri pronounces “Brig-it” like “ribbit”!
The band name was proposed by Russ “Kidman” Schenke (harmonica) and I was outvoted. Even though I mentioned that no one on earth would be able to find us online with that spelling. But, the fact that bandoliers are a cross body accessory to hold harmonicas and ammo was such a meaningful and powerful idea that I went with it. Maybe it’s that strength thing coming through. Well, that and I really love accessories.
What’s an interview question you’ve never been asked?
Hmm, maybe something about how my music has changed over the years? I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting about how I’ve changed personally. I turned 45 in September and more than any other milestone, this one hit me. I was in my first band at 21 years old and, even though I had been out on my own since 17, I really hadn’t found my voice or power. I’m a born mediator and pleaser (I’m a Libra) and my upbringing really reinforced those traits. While they have served me well in some aspects of my life, it’s not always great for relationships and certainly not for making the kind of music you have in your heart.
When I met Russ “Kidman” Schenke at BB’s Lawnside BBQ in May of 2019, I was going back to find my old self, to really do the kind of music that moves me. Russ and I had never met. I hadn’t actually even been to BB’s very often since my wedding rehearsal dinner. I was coming out of yet another “failed” relationship and imagined that maybe there was something more than just being someone’s wife, girlfriend, daughter, mother, or emergency late night “fix it” call. Russ and I talked about the music we loved and how we wanted to play – truly play like kids, for nothing but the fun of it. We knew it was possible to create a collaborative, open, inspiring, meaningful musical home, regardless of accolades or fans or money. Just creating live art and doing music for its own sake. We didn’t know what it would look like but we knew we wanted to build it. And, as I’ve learned, there’s no better place than Kansas City to build a music project like that! This town is overflowing with world-class musicians who want exactly that: to really play, and to be free to create a feeling in three hours that they love and that translates into an incredible “one-night-only” experience for the audience.
From the early days of Brigett & Her Bandoliers, with Joe Fontenot (bass), Roy Cashman (guitar) and Mickey Munoz (drums), Russ Schenke on harp, I felt at home in my band of brothers. Joe Fontenot was like my “Brigett Whisperer” and translated the things I felt in my heart and wanted from a song into language the guys would understand. He was my gatekeeper and taught me it was okay to trust myself and my opinions.
Today, I couldn’t be more supported than with my guys. They are my band family. Russ Schenke who has been there since the inception of this crazy idea. Ben Van Dyke (guitar) who went on the road with his dad, country legend Leroy Van Dyke, when he was only two weeks old and eventually fronted that band and many others, playing with legends in the country world. Ron Still (drums) who is in the Kansas Music Hall of Fame, headlined at the Troubadour, and has toured with musicians from so many different genres. Derek Tucker (bass) who is an absolute beast on 6 string and fretless and was hand-picked by Joe Fontenot as “the guy you need.” I’m pretty sure Joe was referring to Derek being my translator and the driver of the strong bass lines that move me. Joe wasn’t wrong. I really love these fellas and together we have a damn good time and are making some new music that I would have never been able to make at 21 years old. Or even six years ago.
What do you really want people to know about you?
I’m actually pretty funny. Many people probably don’t know that, probably because I look like a 5 ft tall standoffish sniper who takes no prisoners. And I can be! Ha!
I know when people say they’re funny, they usually aren’t. But I am. Despite many reasons in my life to not be, I’m a full time jokester (often in the worst of scenarios). Which can, and has often, gotten me into trouble. Dumb and Dumber and Step Brothers are my favorite movies. Someone very important in my life once said, “You can choose to see your life as either a comedy or a tragedy. You chose comedy.” I think that’s what I love most about the blues. There’s heartbreak and loss and rock bottom in every song for sure, but there’s also hopefulness and levity in seeing the hero narrator deal with the storm, and come through to the other side a little bit better, a little more self aware, a little more “been there done that’” than she was before. That’s strength. That’s the female story of the blues I think: do your worst, you can’t break me, you can bash yourself against these rocks, but I was cut from more, I’ll be laughing (and singing) at the end of it all.
What are your musical goals and/or goals for the band?
I’ve been joking with the guys that my goal is to pull an Adele and do a record called 45 in my 45th year of life that’s only released on 45’s. I don’t actually know what it’s going to look like. But, I didn’t know what the band was going to look like either, back in 2019! I just want to remember and mark this place with my incredible group of musicians, my band family, at this moment in my life. Albums are a snapshot of where we are as humans, what we’re struggling with, what we’ve learned, where we’ve been, and where we hope to be. The songs I’ve written represent twenty-five years of my life. And for me, if my son puts it on a record player sixty years from now and hears my voice, hears me singing my truth, picks up his guitar or goes to the keyboard and sings along, that’s all I care about for a legacy.
Do you have other creative projects?
I do a lot of other things besides music to keep my mind occupied. I garden (fairly well), cook (exceptionally well), occasionally make terrible candles that don’t burn well. I go out to listen to music often, all genres. I travel for work and to visit my son wherever he is in the world. He’s actually my biggest creative project! It’s amazing to see how sure he is about himself and what he wants in life. It took me 45 years to get there, while he’s known from the time he was five what he wanted to do. And he’s never waivered. I wish I could say it was because I was such a good mother. I mean, I am, but that’s not it. Some people are born with a calling. “The wand chooses you” type of thing. That’s my son. My story wasn’t like that. I grabbed onto the blues during times in my life that I’d lost my voice and it saved me. It continues to.
Find Brigett & Her Bandoliers online at https://brigettandherbandoliers.com, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/brigettowensmusic
