Wanda Gronhovd

The intimate setting of the Grand Coteau Centre’s art gallery seemed to be the perfect backdrop for a recent concert by Wanda Gronhovd.
After all, with many in attendance enjoying some level of personal connection to Wanda, the concert had the feel of a large, family gathering of sorts.
Among those in attendance were Wanda’s parents, longtime Shaunavon residents Ken and Sheila Gronhovd, as well as other relatives, friends and former classmates. The strong turnout, however, didn’t necessarily make things any easier for Wanda.
“I think it was more nerve- wracking playing for people you know,” she chuckled.
“But I really appreciated the support,” she added with a
smile. While her family maintains a strong presence in the community, Wanda herself has only been an occasional visitor to Shaunavon over the past four decades.
“It’s been 40 years since I lived in Shaunavon,” she explained. “I left when I was 15 (to attend LCBI high school in Outlook.)”
After graduating, Wanda attended SIAST where she obtained her nursing diploma and later moved to Montreal where she lived for 13 years. She returned to Saskatchewan in 1998.
The move helped her reconnect not only with her family roots, but her musical roots as well.
Wanda says she can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t singing. “I starting singing at church when I was 10, at the White Valley Church,” she stated. She says singing in church choirs, small community events or family get-togethers, were all a big part of her early childhood development.
Wanda says that when she returned to Saskatchewan she reconnected with an old friend Angie Tysseland who became a mentor and an inspiration on the road to more creativity in her life.
It was through Angie that Wanda met Ross Nykiforuk - a keyboardist for the popular Saskatchewan band The Northern Pikes who has also produced albums for The Sheep Dogs. Nykiforuk, a musician and producer based in Saskatoon, helped guide Wanda through the process of recording a CD and everything connected with launching a recording. The result was her first album, entitled Awakenings, which was finished last year. The recording featuring nine different songs written by Gronhovd.
“I believe in connecting to myself and others through music as a way of awakening in the world,” she says of the album and its title.
The project represented a significant accomplishment for Wanda, and quite a progression from her early days singing at the White Valley Church.
Wanda had taken piano lessons as a child and began learning the guitar as an adult. In the mid 1990s she began playing at small house party events and started writing her own lyrics.
Many of her songs hold personal references that chronicle her own life journey. “As you get older you have more life experiences,” she explained. “My inspiration probably comes from my own stories - my music pretty much tells my stories. It’s very personal and emotional stuff.”
Wanda, who continues to work as a nurse on a part time basis in Regina, plans to pursue her musical interests.
Along with the concert in Shaunavon, she also performed at the Urban Ground Coffeehouse in Swift Current on the same weekend.
She thanked the staff at the Grand Coteau Centre for their assistance in helping put together the Shaunavon concert.
In fact, the local show was quite a bit different than most of her other events. Along with performing at her shows, Wanda typically handles everything from ticket sales and hall rental to promotion and set up.
That wasn’t the case in Shaunavon, though. “Wendy ( Thienes) and the staff at the Grand Coteau Centre were great,” said Wanda.
“Everything was arranged and taken care of - someone even made cookies,” she added with a laugh, pointing out that it was her mom and sister-in-law (Lorie) who made the treats.
Wanda is also finishing up a memoir that has a strong connection with songs on the CD. She is hoping to have the book published sometime in the fall.
In the meantime, more plans are in the works for tentative concert events in Indian Head, Fort Qu’Appelle and Regina. A house party concert has also been arranged for Vancouver later this year.
“Right now, I’m happy to take any opportunity to play,” she stated. “Not just because I enjoy performing, but also for the experience of just playing in front of a live audience.”
Wanda had also performed in Shaunavon during the community's Centennial celebration in 2013. - Shaunavon Standard