Livin' On The Edge

One Horse Blue grew out of Alberta’s late-1970s country-rock circuit, drawing together musicians from several earlier regional bands and eventually developing into one of the province’s better-known roots-rock recording acts. Although the group’s name became most closely associated with its Vera Cruz Records albums, its background reaches back through the Edmonton-area band Pickins and the Drayton Valley group Stonehenge.

Pickins included Michael Shellard, Winston Quelch, Bob Burghardt, Fred Larose, Karen Sunderland, and Doug Johnston, while Stonehenge featured singer-guitarist Ian Oscar with David Brisebois, Dennis Brisebois, Derrick Henningsmoan, and Drayton Carl. Stonehenge had leaned toward heavier rock influences, but by the late 1970s Oscar moved into the Pickins circle after Sunderland’s departure. Pickins recorded at Sundown Recording Studio, and when Johnston and Larose later left, Ron Vaugeois and Randy Lloyd joined on drums and bass. That revised lineup became the foundation of One Horse Blue.

The first major version of One Horse Blue brought together Ian Oscar on vocals and guitar, Michael Shellard on vocals and guitar, Winston Quelch on guitar, Bob Burghardt on pedal steel guitar, Randy Lloyd on bass and vocals, and Ron Vaugeois on vocals and drums. The band’s name carried a double connection: it referred to a horse owned by Oscar’s sister and also nodded to “One Horse Blue,” the Paul Cotton song recorded by Poco, one of the country-rock touchstones that helped define the group’s musical direction.

With Wes Dakus involved as producer, One Horse Blue recorded its self-titled debut album for Vera Cruz Records in 1978. The album combined Alberta country-rock, harmony vocals, pedal steel, and studio polish, and produced the Canadian charting single “Cry Out for the Sun.” It also included “Deliver Me,” written by Edmonton songwriter Gary Bowman. Around the same period, the band was connected to another Dakus-produced project, appearing as the backing group for Shannon Two Feathers on Dreams That Feed a Gypsy.

One Horse Blue changed quickly after the first album. Oscar and Quelch left and went on to form The Victory Group, while the band continued around Michael Shellard and Ron Vaugeois. The 1980 album Bite the Bullet reflected this transitional period. Released on Vera Cruz Records, it featured a new version of the group, with Shellard and Vaugeois taking a larger role in the vocals and production. The period lineup included Mavis McCauley on keyboards, Steve Pugsley on bass, and Brent Macnab on guitar.

By 1981’s Livin’ on the Edge, One Horse Blue had shifted again. Ron Vaugeois remained the principal link to the earlier lineup, joined by Greg Dunstan on vocals and bass, Denis Vaugeois and James Wright on vocals and guitar, and Mavis McCauley on vocals and keyboards. The album, recorded at Sundown Recorders, moved the band toward a more streamlined early-1980s rock sound while retaining traces of its Alberta country-rock origins.

The One Horse Blue name resurfaced in the 1990s through a Vancouver-based version led by Michael Shellard. This later lineup included Gordon Maxwell on lead vocals and bass, Larry Pink on keyboards, and Andreas Schuld on guitar for the 1993 Savannah album One Horse Blue. Maxwell later clarified that Jim Foster was not the guitarist on that album, although Foster did perform live with the band during its later period.

The original 1978-era group reunited on November 10, 2005, during the Edmonton Chamber’s CFR Week Cowboy Cabaret at the Shaw Conference Centre, appearing on a bill with Poco and Pure Prairie League. The reunion underlined the band’s connection to the country-rock tradition that had helped shape its earliest identity.

Several members remained active after their time in One Horse Blue. Winston Quelch continued performing and teaching music in Edmonton, Ron Vaugeois worked as a musician, engineer, and producer, and Michael Shellard continued writing songs, including material recorded by other Canadian artists. Across its various lineups, One Horse Blue stands as a key Alberta country-rock band, linking regional club acts, Edmonton studio culture, Vera Cruz Records, and the broader Canadian roots-rock scene.

-Robert Williston