Biographies
Painting Daisies are:
Daisy Groff
(vocal, guitar, banjo, flute)
Rachelle Van Zanten
(vocal, slide guitar, guitar, piano)
Carolyn Fortowsky
(vocal, bass)
Kim Gryba
(drums)
Painting Daisies live to play. They tour as often as possible, tearing up
the highways in Muffy the Highway Slayer - their ever faithful tour van. They
have played their way across Canada numerous times, conquered 42 states in
the United States and completed two European tours, which covered the countries
of Iceland, Holland, Belgium, and Germany.
Out of a field of over 4000 competitors, Painting Daisies was recently voted
as the winners of Canada's national talent competition, The Great Canadian
Music Dream. Their prize of a one hour prime time television/radio special,
aired on December 27th on CBC Radio 1, and on December 30th on CBC television
drew hundreds of thousands of viewers and rave reviews across Canada.
Painting Daisies' most recent release, "fortissimo", has an "upfront
sound [that is] firmly rooted in the blues, as is all rock, but also reaches
out into space-noodle, reggae- staccato, and points unknown" (Prairie
Dog). In 2001, "fortissimo" garnered four Prairie Music Award nominations.
Painting Daisies won the Entertainer of the Year award, beating out five major
label acts including Nickelback, Jann Arden and Wide Mouth Mason.
"Flambescence", The Daisies' 1997 debut album, was credited with
an ARIA nomination for "Best Roots Recording".
The music video for the single, "Carpal Tunnel" off of "fortissimo"
can be seen on Canada's Much Music.
Painting Daisies Play Live -- commanding the stage, their instruments, and
the audience. The music is "primal chick stuff, sure, but hard enough
to wipe away any smirk of a gender band" (Fish Griwkowsky, See Magazine).
This is not a group of pop-princesses; Painting Daisies haul their own gear,
and know how to use it to knock you on your ass.
Since 1995, Daisy Blue Groff and Rachelle VanZanten, along with Kim Gryba
('97) and Carolyn Fortowsky ('99), have delivered rich vocal sounds "with
the finesse of a self-possessed tomboy" (Michelle Genest, The Yukon News).
The founding duo's folk and gospel roots still resonate through their careful
attention to lyrics. Yet their sound has evolved from the early days, having
grown in power and confidence. Today the band's delivery is pure rock.