YouTube Sensation to light up IdeaSpace
It was going so smoothly, but of course nothing in life is perfect.
Tara Holloway practised for weeks and her test runs at the Canadian Tire Centre went without a hitch. She felt confident and ready to sing the national anthem in front of 18,000 boisterous hockey fans. But again, nothing is perfect.
After singing the first lyrics as Calixa Lavallée intended them to be sung, the second French verse of Oh Canada tripped her up. She forgot the line. Embarrassed, all she could do was giggle it off.
“I had sung both anthems without a hitch, when the place was empty. I didn’t even need to think about it. I knew the words inside and out,” she says. “I could have been looking at the lyrics [on the screen], but I was so confident. I just dropped a line.”
Thankfully, the crowd picked her up and carried the chorus on until she recouped her composure. As she walked off, she felt mortified and confided to her attendant who was walking her back to the dressing room.
“Oh my god, I am one of those. I screwed up the anthem,” Holloway remembers saying to the attendant.
“Well, at least you didn’t get booed,” the liaison retorted.
It could have been worse.
Thanks to her mishap, Holloway is a YouTube sensation. Her gaff has been viewed over 70,000 times, and her friends equate the blunder to a “genius” marketing ploy.
Whether or not it has actually helped her music career is mystery, but Holloway is enjoying a steady stream of gigs in an unstable industry.
It all started with her Dad and his record collection. That ignited the spark. From there, she leaped into violin lessons, while she lived in Vancouver.
“I played violin first when I was really little. They just had a program at my school in Vancouver. That didn’t really stick, though. I don’t know how to play violin now, but I know how to hold one very well,” she joked.
Despite leaving the violin, her passion for music led her to Ottawa’s Super Ex, where she landed her first real gig.
“My first time on stage was at the Ex, for a vocal competition. It was in the paper, with a little ad, so I decided to go do that. It was my first time on stage. I was 14.”
Since, Holloway has played at Ottawa’s Bluesfest and countless other music venues across the country. As of now, she’s in the midst of a tour that brings her through bars in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Pembroke, Wakefield, Renfrew, Westport, Campbellford and Renfrew.
On May 3rd, she will be opening for “The Ticket” at IdeaSpace.
“They are so great, oh man. I’m really excited to see them live. I opened up for [The Ticket] when I was fifteen, at the Whipping Post, which is now Café Dekcuf [in Ottawa]. That was my first bar show…cut to many, many years later, and here we are!”
The show is from 3 – 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be bought at the door.
