Mar 27 2009

April 2009

Hi everyone,

I hope that you are all doing great and are enjoying the upcoming Spring season. I have a few things to report since we last spoke so here we go:

Corneille’s English album was released on Universal/Motown on March 10 and we have done a few days of promo to support it. In December we did a small showcase for industry people in New York City at a club called the Drom. This could be a legendary gig if only by the fact that I helped carry a baby grand piano up on a 5 foot stage (I do it all !). We also did a day of promo in Washington visiting various radio stations. Some of those performances will be available online. We did a show in Washington on the NPR network called Tell Me More with Michel Martin. A video of our performance can be found here. We also did a showcase in London, England in April for the UK release. He is signed to the Island label. That was a fantastic gig. We were able to bring the whole band over for the performance and we had such a good time visiting the city and playing the shows. It was great to be able to play this music with Corneille’s full band.

We have also began recording what should be Corneille’s next French album. It’s so good to hear him singing in French again. I am not sure how many of the tracks that we have recorded will make it to the final album, but what we have done up to now is quite different than the previous albums. I am always amazed at his natural talent. He hears music on a whole different level than most of us. Anyway, I will let you know how that project is coming along. I am really excited at the thought of going back to France. Besides being severely downgraded in my Frequent Flyer status, I miss my friends, co-workers, and favourite restaurants in Paris. I plan to eat until it hurts when I get there.

In February, I performed on a show on Radio-Canada with Corneille in which he invited several guests to sing with him for an hour’s worth of music. I was the musical director on the show and I got to work with Corneille’s amazing musicians on the project. We had a great time and I am proud of the fact that a lot of people took notice of how good this band sounded. Corneille has told me many times, but there really is something special when myself, Sam Harrisson, Allister Philip, Denis Chiche, and J-B Carbou play together. We had a blast backing up Corneille, Luck Merville, Sofia De Medeiros, and a band called Pacifika. Some clips of the show can be found here.

In December I had the great opportunity to perform with a Quebec singer named Michaël. I played a few songs on his last album and I was asked to do the 15-date tour of churches across Quebec for the holiday season. What a treat it was to share the stage with such an incredible singer. There were a few songs in the set which there was no guitar and I took advantage got to listen and enjoy that marvelous voice. I have put up a few photos of the tour on the site.

I am presently in the middle of Nicola Ciccone’s Storyteller Tour across Quebec. It’s great to be back with the boys in the band and crew and to play Nic’s music. It has now been two years that I have regularly worked with Nicola on his live shows and promo work. It’s a different style of music than I am known for playing, but I find it challenging and fun to play.

Also, quite a few albums that I have had the good fortune of playing on have come out. They are definitely varied in style. Some folk acoustic stuff, some hard rock/pop, and some straight-ahead pop music. I have put some music clips on the site.

Besides that, life is good but busy at home with the family. My twin girls will be 2 years old already in April ! I am very fortunate to have a career that for the most part allows me to stay at home and spend so much time with them.

Take care and have a great Spring season.

Andy

P.S. In my iPod: James Taylor - Covers, Bireli Lagrene: Electric Side, Bireli Lagrene - Blue Eyes, Mavericks - What A Crying Shame, Jimmy Herring - Lifeboat, Richard Bona -The Tale, Joe Bonamassa - The Ballad of John Henry, Lee Ritenour - Rit’s House, Perle Lama - Mizikasoleil, Tal Wilkenfeld - Transformation, Brent Mason - Smoking Section, Martin Taylor - Don’t Fret, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price - Last Of The Breed, Ernest Ranglin - Below The Baseline, Pat Martino - Tribute to Wes Montgomery, Paul Simon - Graceland

P.S.S. Good books I have recently read: David Foster Autobiography, Slash Autobiography, Victor Wooten - The Music Lesson, Rudy Sarzo - Off The Rails