The Duhks' Tania Elizabeth
by Jenny Sherwin,
December 12, 2006
Tania Elizabeth isn't your typical country music star. She's a vegan, environmentalist, raw foods aficionado, yoga enthusiast, animal rights activist — and an out lesbian. The fiddle player and vocalist is part of Canadian quintet The Duhks, which was nominated last week for a Grammy for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal for their song “Heaven's My Home,” a track on their latest CD, Migrations.
Like the music of The Duhks, which crosses genres ranging from bluegrass to blues to alt-country, Elizabeth likes to live outside the box. She is musically eclectic, religiously adventurous and sociopolitically unbound. In short, she's probably not in line to be Toby Keith's date at the Country Music Awards. Still, she fiddles like the love child of Charlie Daniels and Martie Maguire, making it hard to determine where she ends and her violin begins.
“I find that my love for the violin is something alive,” Elizabeth explains, “constantly evolving and growing.” She was only 3 years old when she began her lifelong love affair with the violin, but she has also expanded her musical repertoire to include mandolin, guitar and vocals.
“I really tend to gravitate to people who either transcend their instruments or who have a powerful message within the music,” Elizabeth says. “Artists like Béla Fleck, Ravi Shankar, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Tracy Chapman.”
Elizabeth began her professional career in 7 Carrot Fiddle, followed by a series of solo albums which inspired her to quit school and start her own record company and booking agency. Then, five years ago, she landed her current gig with The Duhks, where she not only plays fiddle but sings backing vocals. The band, who is now on tour to support their recently released third album, Migrations, is a virtual cornucopia of backgrounds and influences.
“I love the diversity and the seemingly infinite realm of inspiration that we could potentially draw from,” Elizabeth raves, “and it's interesting, fun music to play.”
Often described as “contemporary, acoustic, progressive, soul-grass,” the Duhks bridge the gap between old country and neo-soul. Their brand of roots-pop has garnered them quite a bit of attention in Nashville , and the video for their song “Out of the Rain” is currently airing on Country Music Television.
So, how does an out lesbian from Canada feel about airing on CMT alongside the soundtrack for the Republican National Convention? “I have never really been ‘in,'” Elizabeth confesses. “As my self-awareness develops, I adapt to it, and I'm not overly concerned about being judged because of my sexuality.”
She continues: “I think it's possible for someone to like mainstream country and like us [The Duhks] as well. We have a wonderfully diverse audience, and it's nice to be able to project the image that feels most honest in professional life.” Still, she admits, “I can't ever see us opening for say, Alan Jackson or anyone like that.”
Does she fear that her sexuality might limit her career opportunities as it has for so many out gay artists throughout time? Not at all. “There are a lot of things I want to do that are not even necessarily music biz related,” Elizabeth admits, “so I know if one door closes, no problem. Change of scene.”
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