After leaving her professional horse career, she focused full-time on her songwriting and performing in 1991 and performed shows in Alberta and Saskatchewan with Doug Hergott. Her first album self-titled was released in 1992 and featured four singles including "Paradise", a ballad featured in the movie "My Mother's Ghost" and "Cowgirls Prayer" which won 1995 Video Of The Year at the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards. As an active force in Saskatchewan Country Music Awards she received numerous nominations and awards at the SCMA including Entertainer Of The Year in 1997.
Marilyn and her bandmates have received 46 nominations since 1994 Entertainer of the Year 1998 97 96 95 94 Female Vocalist 1998 97 95 94 Song of the Year 1997 96 95 94 Single of the Year 1997 95 94 Manager of the Year 1998 97 96 Video 1995 Booking Agent 1997 Bass Guitar - Terry Hoknes 1998 97 96 95 94 Keyboards - Terry Hoknes 1998 97 96 95 Guitar Player - Terry Hoknes 1998 97 Producer - Terry Hoknes 1995 Producer - Doug Hergott 1995 Bass Guitar - Boyd Faulkner 1998 97 Guitar Player - Bob Hoknes 1996 Guitar Player - Rod Jenson 1995 Drums - Gord Moyer 1998 97 Drums - Brett Brissaw 1994 Backup Band - Rose County 1998 97 Touring Band - Rose County 1996 95 94
Touring Bands
Marilyn formed the band "Legend" in 1992 to tour and promote her debut album featuring Doug Hergott on lead guitar. The next year she formed a new lineup called "Rose County" to tour including Dean Kaplan, Tom Cunningham, Brett Brissaw and Terry Hoknes which toured in late 1993 across Western Canada. New lineup changes later included Billy Ray Houston, Michael Machetti, Keith Read and Gord Moyer.
Duo
From 1995 to 2003 she toured back and forth across Western Canada with partner Terry Hoknes. Hoknes created a fully sequenced show to perform Marilyn's music as well as other material. They also toured Western Australia in late 1997 and performed in France including the Mirande, France Country Music Festival in July 2001. At this time Marilyn began to co-write with other songwriters including Mick DallaVee as well as TV and radio interviews to promote her music.
She began to work on a second album in 1995 with Terry Hoknes and Doug Hergott with whom she co-wrote material and produced various demo recordings. Eventually she teamed with Mike Norman. The second album titled "Unbridled Heart" was recorded in Vancouver, BC, Canada and produced by Mike Norman and featured performances by top performers as Tony Rudner, Tom McKillup plus a guest performance by solo recording artist Gary Fjellgard. The new album featured 11 new songs all co-written by Marilyn which feature a great variety of musical styles and moods. The first single "How Can I Dance With You" hit #79 nationally on the Canadian Country Charts. The follow-up single "To Say I Love You" hit #50 nationally in 1999.
Sultry Summer Nights - Third Album
Marilyn and Terry Hoknes began co-writing new songs for a new album in 2001 and both ventured to Nashville for further co-writing including a son with John Greenebaum writer of the #1 country song Third Rock From The Sun performed by Joe Diffie. The album was recorded in Saskatoon produced by Terry Hoknes and engineered by Neil Meckelborg of Audio Art Studios.
Mold Exposure
While traveling Marilyn and Terry Hoknes both were affected from exposure to Stachybotrus mold. This has led to Marilyn writing a book titled "Toxic House On The Prairie" about her health issues and how to deal with mold.
Car Accident
Marilyn and Terry Hoknes were in a car accident in 2003 which happened near the end of their touring. Marilyn has performed a few shows with David Evans. Marilyn is now based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and still performs and writes.
