One Horse Blue
Websites:
No
Origin:
Drayton Valley, Alberta, 🇨🇦
Biography:
The origins of One Horse Blue can be traced to Alberta act Pickins featuring Michael Shellard, Winston Quelch, Bob Burghardt, Fred Larose, Karen Sunderland and Doug Johnston.
Meanwhile, in Drayton Valley, Alberta, in 1975, Ian Oscar hooked up with high school friends David Brisebois (bass) and his brother Dennis (guitar), Derrick Henningsmoan (drums) and Drayton Carl (guitar) as Stonehenge. They pursued a heavy rock sound influenced by the likes of Deep Purple, Steppenwolf and Iron Butterfly. By 1977 the band had transformed so many times with so many different incarnations that Oscar decided to look for greener pastures.
As it happened, Sunderland had quit Pickens and Oscar replaced her. The band recorded and released a single at Sundown Recording Studio. Doug Johnston and Fred Larose left the band shortly after the first single was produced and Ron Vaugeois and Randy Lloyd replaced them on drums and bass. The new act featured Shelland, Quelch, Burghardt, Lloyd and Vaugeois and started performing under the handle One Horse Blue -- named after a horse owned by Oscar's sister and based on the Paul Cotton song by Poco.
Under the production tutelage of Wes Dakus the band recorded their self-titled debut album in 1978 for the Vera Cruz label which spawned the Canadian charting hit "Cry Out For The Sun". During this period they were also enlisted as the backing band for Dakus's other production project Shannon Two Feathers on the album 'Dreams That Feed A Gypsy'.
More member changes, including the departure of Oscar and Quelch (who formed The Victory Group) preceded the recording of the follow-up, 'Bite The Bullet', in 1980. The production chores (and vocal duties) were handled by Shelland and Vaugeios.
By 1981's 'Livin' On The Edge', the band was under the guidance of the only member left -- Ron Vaugeois.
A version of One Horse Blue featuring Shelland, Gordon Maxwell (bass, vocals) and Jim Foster (ex-Fosterchild) recorded the album 'One Horse Blue' for Savannah in 1993 and toured to support it.
The original 1978 version of One Horse Blue reunited for The Edmonton Chamber's CFR Week "Cowboy Cabaret" on November 10, 2005 at the Shaw Conference Centre with their heroes Poco and Pure Prairie League.
Quelch still lives, performs and teaches music in Edmonton and is in the Cathy Kowalski Band; Ron Vaugeois appeared on Tim Feehan's 1983 album 'Carmalita', was a member of the blues act Big Dreamer, and has done engineering work for the likes of R. Harlan Smith.; Michael Shelland kept the One Horse Blue name alive in the 1990's and also wrote material for Stewart MacDougall and Michael Carey among others.
-Doug Johnston
Ian Oscar: vocals, guitar
Michael Shelland: vocals, guitar
Winston Quelch: guitars
Bob Burghardt: pedal steel; 1978
Randy Lloyd: bass, vocals
Ron Vaugeois: vocals, drums
Mavis McCauley: keyboards; 1980
Steve Pugsley: bass; replaced Lloyd 1980
Brent Macnab: guitar; replaced Quelch 1980
Greg Dunstan: bass; replaced Pugsley 1981
James Wright (guitar; replaced Macnab 1981
Dennis Vaugeois: guitar 1981
Gordon Maxwell: lead vocals, bass; 1993-current
Larry Pink: keyboards; current
Jim Foster: electric guitar 1993
