The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It was shortly before nine oÕclock last Saturday night, and the once bustling banquet room of The Prospector Inn had reverted to colloquial conversations around each table. No one could feel it just yet, but the atmosphere here at the Flin Flon Teachers AssociationÕs Christmas banquet was about to get a whole lot livelier. As the eveningÕs much-awaited entertainment filed in, party mood began to take hold. Within minutes, the well-groomed guests were out of their chairs, smiling, laughing and shaking everything theyÕve got on the dance floor. The Hanson Sisters Band has always had a way of breathing such life into get-togethers. Their unmistakable talents have made them one of the most popular local bands of recent times, but itÕs their palpable enthusiasm that really lets them flourish. ÒWe love to sing, and as long as people continue hiring us and continue inviting us to be a part of their functions, weÕre going to keep singing,Ó says Susan Lethbridge, whose lifelong love of music was crucial to the bandÕs birth in 1997. A product of Flin FlonÕs musical Hanson family, Susan shares the stage with husband (and high school sweetheart) Brent, sister Joni Hanson and longtime friend Paul Bergman. On drums is the head-banging Corey Krassilowsky, while another talented husband-wife tandem, Mark and Crystal Kolt, tickle the keyboards. Indicative of their skill, nearly all the band members are both singers and percussionists, though Brent and the sisters normally supply the lead vocals. TheyÕre a versatile group that wears two distinctive hats. In quieter, more intimate settings, they pare down their membership and perform riveting acoustic pieces. At socials, weddings and the like, they dig out their familiar roster of rock ÔnÕ roll cover tunes to get everyone moving. Their selections run the gamut. They appear just as comfortable belting out ÒLove ShackÓ by The B-52Õs as they do putting their own contemporary stamp on John LennonÕs iconic ÒImagine.Ó But just as important as the tune assortment is the fun factor, both for the musicians and their audience. ÒWe like to have a good time,Ó says Brent. ÒIf everyoneÕs there for a good time and to dance and have fun, then weÕre your band. We want to do that.Ó See 'Venture' on pg. Continued from pg. Individually, the members of the Hanson Sisters Band have been bringing those good times for decades. To appreciate the groupÕs history, one must venture back even before its formation. The Hanson family has always been musically inclined. Its patriarch, Bill, a singer with the old Glee Club, showered his young childrenÕs ears with jazz classics from the likes of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Spike Jones. His affection for music rubbed off in different ways. While Susan knew early on she wanted to generate her own tunes, Joni was more of a listener. Besides, as the athlete in the family, she was busy with her sports. Meanwhile, Brent developed his strong musical taste courtesy piano and guitar lessons. He was heavily influenced by the popular Flin Flon bands of his youth, including Blue Monday, Sir Orville Sextet and Out of the Blue. Growing up just down the street from Out of the BlueÕs Paul Bergman, his future bandmate, Brent would often stop by to hear the group jam in the Bergman family living room. ÒAs a kid, it was just thrilling,Ó he recalls. Given their enthusiasm, it was no surprise when the teenaged Brent and Susan signed up for teacher Gerry PerkinÕs folk and rock club at Hapnot Collegiate. From that experience, a band called Power Plant was structured. Joining Susan (lead vocals) and Brent (guitar and vocals) were Debbie Warren (lead vocals), Tom Gibney (drums), Gary Brauner (bass), and Rick Odegaard (keyboard). In time even Perkin (guitar) came aboard. For the next three years, Power Plant bore a presence in Northern Manitoba that few bands can enjoy in todayÕs era of seemingly limitless entertainment opportunities. ÒWe performed everywhere,Ó recalls Susan. ÒWe played at the high school dances. We played in The Pas, Thompson and Snow Lake.Ó After high school, Power PlantÕs members went their separate ways, but music remained a big part of their lives. That was particularly true for Susan, who in 1974 moved to Winnipeg with her future husband. Over the next decade she worked as a back-up singer for the likes of Rocky Rolletti (better known as former CBC host Peter Jordan), Tom Jackson and the Juno Award-winning Graham Shaw and the Sincere Serenaders. Susan also went on tour with the warm-up band for Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, a pop-country rock group that once appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. She enjoyed a huge year in 1980, recording an album in Los Angeles and performing at the Juno Awards, both as a back-up singer to Graham Shaw. A second album with Shaw followed two years later. During this time, Brent stayed close to the music industry, but not in a performing capacity. Instead he worked for a concert promotion company as a production manager Ð a liaison between the promoter and the artists. Married for six years, the LethbridgesÕ careers may have been taking off, but in 1984, an important choice was thrust upon them. With a baby on the way, they had to decide whether rock ÔnÕ roll and family mixed. They came back to Flin Flon. ÒThe lifestyle was going to be too crazy for having a family,Ó says Susan. Just as it had when they moved south a decade earlier, the LethbridgesÕ music-making urge followed them. They quickly took up gospel singing with SusanÕs father and her sister, Cindy. Along with jazz, gospel was the musical category of choice for the Hanson family. Its harmonious tones and uplifting messages proved the perfect outlet for the Lethbridges. For several years, anyway. As SusanÕs 1994 high school reunion approached, she and Brent couldnÕt wait to relive old times Ð and that included a reunion of Power Plant, which would perform at a social attended by all those old friends. Power Plant didnÕt miss a beat as they went under the spotlight together for the first time in more than two decades. It felt good Ð and right. The consensus was that they should really get together more often. And so Susan, Brent and Tom Gibney teamed up with Paul Bergman and Mark Kolt to form a country band, The Parkway Rhythm Section. Membership would evolve significantly over the coming months and years. A somewhat surprising addition was sister Joni, who joined as a late bloomer despite having never before sung with a band. JoniÕs debut performance, in December 1995, was simultaneously thrilling and nauseating. ÒThe first time we played, I wanted to throw up,Ó she recalls. ÒI was just so nervous. I had sung with my family before at church and stuff, but I had never sung in a band, so you know, it was a little different. And as much as I loved it, it was nerve-wracking.Ó By the time The Parkway Rhythm Section was booked for the Flin Flon BombersÕ 70th anniversary celebrations in 1997, the band bore only limited resemblance to its original incarnation. A name change was in order, and only one option seemed fitting: the Hanson Sisters Band. That performance was memorable not only because it marked the new bandÕs introduction, but also because it was also the first time the youngest Hanson sister, Jennifer, accompanied her siblings on stage. A successful songstress in Atlanta, Jennifer still performs with her sisters whenever sheÕs back home. In addition to Susan, Joni and Jennifer, a fourth sister, Cindy Fahie, joined in. Cindy was a founding member of the Hanson Sisters Band, but, like Jennifer, is now only an occasional participant given that she moved to Nova Scotia two years ago. ÒIt is more fun when itÕs the four sisters, and itÕs a much bigger bang,Ó comments Susan. ÒJennifer is the most experienced singer. SheÕs a full-timer, and you can tell. She can whip anything off.Ó Since that inaugural show, the Hanson Sisters Band has compiled an impressive rsum. They were a big hit at the 2000 and 2008 Flin Flon Homecoming celebrations, not to mention the 2001 Royal Bank Cup tournament at the Whitney Forum. In 2006 they again teamed up with Jennifer, this time entertaining 1,200 people Ð many of them Flin Flonners Ð at WinnipegÕs Assiniboine Lyric Theatre. Despite such successes, Susan sees the band not as a focal point of the local music scene, but as a single cog in a much larger machine. ÒFlin Flon is rich with musical history,Ó she says. ÒWe have more musicians and more singers in Flin Flon, more artists, than any other community I know of. ItÕs incredible.Ó Dave Gunn is one of those fellow musicians. Having seen the Hanson Sisters Band perform on several occasions, he is swift in offering his praise. ÒTheyÕve got a good band,Ó he says. ÒTheir harmonies are good and theyÕre professional about it. They want to make sure theyÕre on time, do a good job and the sound is good.Ó Today, after 11 years, the Hanson Sisters Band shows no signs of slowing down, still doing great justice to all those famous songs. ItÕs not about the money, since no musician ever got rich staying in Flin Flon (and the band has been known to donate its services). ItÕs not about cementing their status as local music stars, as they are forever encouraging young musicians to get out and play. What itÕs about is the music, and the feeling they get from sharing it with others. ÒThe thing that I love the most is knowing that people are having a great time listening to a live band, and you can see it on their faces,Ó says Joni. ÒTheyÕre just having fun, and that is a comment that we get a lot, is that itÕs so great having a live band because it just sort of gets the crowd going.Ó Brent feels much the same. So much so that he canÕt imagine the exhilarating ride the Hanson Sisters Band is on ever coming to an end. ÒAny time you perform, you get kind of an adrenaline rush,Ó he says. ÒEven if itÕs just me and Susan playing to 20 or 30 people, you still get a certain excitement out of it. I think I will do this till I croak, to tell you the truth.Ó
