Wildflower trio to play rare show

The idea of making music as a trio came easily to three central Arkansas musicians -- Amy Garland, Bonnie Montgomery and Mandy McBryde -- all of whom are fans of another remarkable female threesome. Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris released an album they named Trio in 1987, and one of the songs on it was a Parton composition, "Wildflowers."

"We are all big fans of that album and that special three-part harmony," Montgomery says. "It got started about two years ago when the three of us would get together and pick on the porch, and we gradually tried to come up with a set list. It turned out we all really love that Trio album and its bluegrass sound, so we decided to do something in the spirit of that album."

Public performances for the three as The Wildflowers have been rare, she adds, recalling only a gig opening for Billy Joe Shaver at the White Water Tavern and a show at the Undercroft, in the basement of Christ Episcopal Church. All three have their own careers and bands, so opportunities to work as a trio are necessarily limited.

"I want to get the others in the studio and record the three or four original songs we have," Montgomery says. "My label is interested in us doing something together. In my band, we try to rock out, but this trio is more of a purist thing, nothing electrified."

The set list, Montgomery says, will likely include the threesome's originals, plus Buffy Sainte-Marie's song (made famous by Donovan) "Universal Soldier," "Only Mama That'll Walk the Line" (originally sung by Waylon Jennings with "Daddy" in the title, but changed to "Mama" in Ronstadt's version) and a McBryde arrangement of Grandpa Jones' "Falling Leaves."

The women will all play acoustic guitars, and what with Garland being left-handed, a certain amount of shuffling around occurs. They will have a backing band, two of whom -- drummer Bart Angel and guitarist Nick Devlin -- are also members of Garland's band and The Salty Dogs (Angel is also Garland's husband). Brent LaBeau (whose credits include The Gunbunnies, Mulehead and The Salty Dogs) will play upright bass and Geoff Robson (a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra) will play fiddle.

"Normally, Nick plays electric guitar," Montgomery says, "but at our show, he will play acoustic, so that should be a rare treat."

Weekend on 05/28/2015