Ollee Owens gets to celebrate Christmas twice this season. The mother of three daughters and the wife of a man who co-wrote five songs on her Nowhere to Hide album, she will gather with her family around their Christmas tree in Manitoba.
Then, two weeks later on Wednesday, January 8th, she will showcase at B. B. King’s in Memphis during the International Blues Challenge.
She recorded her second album in Nashville, but her IBC date marks the first time she’s performed as a band leader in the United States. “From 2015 to 2019, I would say I was focused on the family, and I could fit the other stuff, and got on stage whenever I could, but…”
And it was a big but. She felt conflicted trying to pursue a career singing with her maternal responsibilities. “My husband (Kornelius Colyn) always supported and believed in me in terms of getting out there doing what I do, and the girls during this time were teenagers moving into adulthood. I started to feel like, you know what? I think we can do this. We wrote five of the 11 songs on the record. We wrote “‘Some Days,’ ‘Roots,’ ‘Love You Better,’ ‘Still in Pieces’ and ‘Shivers and Butterflies.’
“I’m more extroverted. He’s more introverted, and that’s the base level. I would say I am very hands on. He’s more intellectual. I would say he’s more structured. It’s all about clarity. I’m all over the map. I’ll be talking, and it takes me a while to get to my point. He’s very thoughtful – if you can imagine how conversation works with us where I’m trying to tell a story, and he has no idea where I’m coming from. It’s always a bit of an adventure trying to get the same pieces of the puzzle together.”
Is Ollee at all scared that her musical obsession will override her maternalism? “That’s a great question. I think first and foremost I’m a mom, and if there’s any point where my kids need me, or anything, I don’t feel fear in that regard. I’m so overwhelmed with gratitude at the opportunity to share crazy meaningful experiences with people. I don’t feel fear with that, and I don’t know if that will change as I go deeper into my career. I don’t think that will. The maternal instinct is such a deep part of me. I don’t know fear right now in that regard.”
One daughter is married. A second is a senior in college and a third has “exceptional needs” with her dad taking on full parental responsibilities when Ollee is out performing.
“He helps out a lot taking care of our daughters, and I’m able to get out and do that. So, yeah, it’s not easy, but I feel real good about the support system we have in place for my one daughter. The other girls are growing up. They’re wonderful. They’re working on building their lives. Our daughters are long-term caregivers. We’re working it to a point where I can focus on getting out and doing that.”
Nowhere to Hide lives up to its title. The solid product of a woman who has experienced all that life throws at her, it features strong vocals supported by Muscle Shoals guitarist Will McFarlane on eight of the album’s 11 tracks. A veteran of six years playing guitar with Bonnie Raitt, Will has also played with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on records for Etta James, Bobby Blue Bland, Little Milton, and Johnny Taylor.
“Will’s become a friend and I’m just so grateful to have him on the record. We wrote ‘Solid Ground’ and ‘My Man.’ It’s been such a joy to work with Will. The producer, Bobby Blazier, also was incredibly wonderful to work with. He’s brought together these wonderful good people.
“We recorded in Nashville. The guys came up. Obviously I’m an emerging artist – an unknown artist – and to be able to partner with some of those incredible heavyweights I would say from the very beginning was a challenge for sure. I was like, I can’t believe I’m here. What am I doing here?
“These guys are so down to earth and have such a passion that they bring to music. We were really united around the songs, and everybody was excited to be there. Some of them had never played in a session together. There was that energy. We were all there to rehearse the songs and make the best version of each song that we could.
“We came into sessions with structures of the songs. We had chord progressions of the songs. There were a couple of tunes where I would describe something that I was engineering, and they’d go, ‘You mean like this?’ And it would be like, ‘That is fantastic. Yes, this is totally the thing I was imagining.’
“On ‘Love You Better’ we wanted an easy blues-rock sound. ‘The Neighborhood’ is one that Will played on. That whole ending where they’re talking back and forth with their guitars. It was like, yes. This is exactly what we’re going for. I am incredibly thankful for those guys. They never made me feel like I wasn’t part of it. They were all so great to work with. I was really happy with the results.”
One of two covers on the album is Dylan’s “Lord Protect My Child.”
“I’ve been a Dylan fan since I was a teenager. I would say I discovered him at a formative time in my life. I was very inspired by his songwriting. ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ was kind of the first one, and then I listened to everything I possibly could by him, which at that point would have been the early ’90s. So, all the electric stuff I just ate it all up.
“The opportunity to go to the IBC is something that certainly has been on my list of what I’d like to do at some point. The fact that it’s happening I’m thrilled about. I look forward to connecting with people. I do hope we can make great connections there. Ultimately, I’d like to extend my career beyond Canada to the United States as well as Europe ’cause I know that there are very big connections over there as well.
“I feel like my life experience has been a lot of ups and downs and a lot of blues, if you will. That’s where I feel a strong connection to it, and I hope I can do a song justice in what I create in writing and performing. It’s come from a deep place.
“There are plans to tour in the fall. Hopefully as a result of our time down there we’ll be able to get down there late in 2025. That is the goal for sure. I’d love to get down there.”
