Farmer's Daughter

Farmer's Daughter is a Canadian country music group. Farmer's Daughter recorded three studio albums and charted sixteen singles on the Canadian country music charts. Their highest charting single was the Number One song "Cornfields or Cadillacs."

Career

In the spring of 1992, Saskatchewan's Jake Leiske talked Alberta's Shauna Rae Samograd into forming a country music band. Jake and Shauna Rae had toured together before with their family's gospel group when they were 5 and 2 years old, respectively. By the fall of that same year, they joined forces with Manitoba's Angela Kelman, to form Farmer's Daughter.

In 1993, the Vancouver-based group independently released their debut album, Girls Will Be Girls, on Stubble Jumper Music. The album generated seven hits, including "Borderline Angel," "Family Love," "I Wanna Hold You" and a cover of the Dusty Springfield hit "Son of a Preacher Man." Girls Will Be Girls was named Album of the Year by the British Columbia Country Music Association (BCCMA) in 1994, and the band won the Vista Rising Star Award from the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) the following year. They swept the 1996 British Columbia Country Music Awards, winning Entertainer of the Year, Group of the Year, as well as Song and Single of the Year awards for "Borderline Angel."

In 1996, Farmer's Daughter signed to Universal Music Canada and released their second album, Makin' Hay, in September. The album went gold in Canada and produced five more hit singles, including "Lonely Gypsy Wind," "Now That I'm On My Own," "You Said" and the top 5 "Cornfields or Cadillacs." They were named Group of the Year by the CCMA in 1997, Best Country Group or Duo at the Juno Awards in 1998, and both Group and Entertainer of the Year by the BCCMA in 1997 and 1998.

In 1997, at WWE's In Your House: Canadian Stampede, Farmer's Daughter performed the Canadian National Anthem prior to the Main Event.

Their third album, This Is the Life, was released in October 1998, also by UMG Canada. They took a more hands-on approach, producing the album with Marc Ramaer (k.d. lang). Two singles from the CD reached the Canadian Top 10, "Freeway" and "Blue Horizon." Farmer's Daughter continued their domination at the BCCMA Awards in 1999, winning Entertainer of the Year, Group of the Year, Song of the Year ("Blue Horizon"), Single of the Year ("Blue Horizon") and Album of the Year (This Is The Life).

The band released their greatest hits album, The Best of Farmer's Daughter, in 1999. The CD included 11 of Farmer's Daughter's biggest hits, along with two new songs, "Walkin' In The Sunshine" (#8) and "You And Only You" (#12). They were once again named Entertainer of the Year and Group of the Year by the BCCMA, along with Single of the Year for "Walkin' In The Sunshine."

The original three band members did their last tour in 2001, and did not go public with any information as to why they decided to stop playing together. All three women have been working on solo projects and personal goals. On June 16, 2008, Farmer's Daughter played an exclusive reunion show at the Winspear Center in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. There is speculation that they may be recording together again, however there has been no official statement from the band.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Music videos

Awards

Canadian Country Music Awards

1995

• Vista Rising Star

1997

• Group or Duo of the Year

Juno Awards

1998

• Best Country Group or Duo

British Columbia Country Music Awards

1994

• Album of the Year, Girls Will Be Girls

1996

• Entertainer of the Year
• Group of the Year
• Song of the Year, "Borderline Angel"
• Single of the Year, "Borderline Angel"

1997

• Entertainer of the Year
• Group of the Year
• Single of the Year, "Cornfields or Cadillacs"

1998

• Entertainer of the Year
• Group of the Year

1999

• Entertainer of the Year
• Group of the Year
• Song of the Year, "Blue Horizon"
• Single of the Year, "Blue Horizon"
• Album of the Year, This Is the Life

2000

• Entertainer of the Year
• Group of the Year
• Single of the Year, "Walkin' In The Sunshine"

2002

• Group of the Year

References