There are tiny, pivotal moments in history that can have a profound effect on the future - a "flutter in Saddam's moustache affecting the price of gas in Alberta" sort of thing.

Example: Were it not for confusion over the key of Blue Bayou in a talent contest many years ago, Holly McNarland might not have turned her back on country music and become the tattooed, butt-kicking rock chick she is today. Perhaps one can hear remnants from her country roots at her show Wednesday at the Sidetrack Cafe, where she performs with the lovely Emm Gryner. Perhaps not. More on that in a moment.

First, a sad story from the files of True Tales of the Road.

On the phone from her home in Winnipeg, McNarland recalls, "When I was 13, my friend Naomi and I went to Brandon so I could enter a singing contest. My mom had gone there with her creepy boyfriend that was kind of out of his mind on drugs. Anyhow, for some reason she couldn't wait for us, so we rolled up our pennies, took all our change and took the bus to Brandon. We were like 13. I couldn't imagine letting a 13-year-old travel like that today. So we got there and I went into this talent show and I lost miserably. I was so embarrassed because they played the wrong key for me, and I was so nervous I couldn't get it together. I think it was Blue Bayou. I f----- it up and I choked, and it was horrible. I was so embarrassed. I wouldn't even stay in the building. I went and sat in the car. That night we stayed in my mom's hotel. She got us a room and we ordered booze to our room for room service, and Naomi said, 'dad, your drinks are here,' and I was in the bathroom with the shower on.' We were brats."

From that moment on, she says, McNarland vowed never to sing a country song again - or any song, for that matter.

"Eventually, I got over the stage fright thing, but I did stop listening to country music for quite a while."

Teenage rebellion appeared to have a positive effect on her musical career. Possessed of an incredible voice said to be a cross between Amanda Marshall and Sarah McLachlan, McNarland came to the public eye with the EP Sour Pie in 1996.

While largely acoustic, it had little in common with Blue Bayou. Sample lyric: "I'll lick your heels till my mouth bleeds. Maybe you'll kick me some."

Hmm. The singer claims you can still hear her roots in subsequent albums like Stuff and Home Is Where My Feet Are (recorded after about four years of maternity leave), but, "You add a band and everything changes."

Then you add a deal with a major record label whose business depends on public perception - it becomes difficult to break the rock chick mould, McNarland says.

She wanted to take Home Is Where My Feet Are in a rootsy direction. The U.S. label said, "No f------ way," though not in so many words.

"He (the U.S. label president) said, 'Don't worry about it. You don't have to think about that stuff right now. You just write your little ass off,' blah, blah, blah. I didn't listen to what he had to say, but it all depends on production."

Thanks to the continuing crossover effect where both real country (Dixie Chicks) and fake country (Shania Twain) can get air on the same commercial pop radio station, Holly's next recording might really shake that rock chick image - not that there's anything wrong with it.