Oct 14 2005

Hello There

Hi everyone,

It is with great pleasure that I can finally present my website to you. I didn’t initially intend on having a website but after being asked one-too-many times, I decided to make it happen. I hope that it pleases you and that you can get the information that you seek regarding myself and my career with Corneille as well as the other great artists that I am fortunate to play with.

Please look around and feel free to contact me with anything that you would like to know. Vos questions et commentaires sont bienvenu en français.

So…what have I been up to in 2005 ? Well firstly, even though that this is considered a “recording year” with Corneille, we have had a few concerts in some amazing places. In March we spent a few days in Dakar, Senegal as part of the “Live Africa” concert. The concert’s aim was to raise funds for Malaria awareness in Africa.

In April, we played in Nagoya, Japan representing Canada for the 2005 Expo alongside Alanis Morisette.

In June we played a small tour in the Caribbean (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, and Cayenne).

And finally, in July we played some dates across Quebec.

In between the Corneille dates I was fortunate to play some gigs with some other singers. On May 11, I played the Centre Bell with a fantastic singer from Montreal named Niccola Ciccone. That gig was a thrill because it’s always great to play the Centre Bell (I had done it once before with Corneille as part of Musique Plus’ 18th anniversary) and the fact that I got to play some amazing songs with Nic and his great band. I really enjoyed playing his music and I learned a lot doing the show. Thanks to Peter Ranallo (the musical director) for making me feel welcome on the gig.

I also had a small tour in the beginning of June with Jennifer Gasoi. Jennifer is a singer that writes and performs children’s music. I had played some guitar on her CD last year and she was invited to play at this year’s Children’s Festivals in Calgary and Edmonton. Her music is wonderful and her CD, Songs For You was nominated for a Juno this year. The dates on the tour went well and we had a lot of fun on the road.

In between all of that, we have been hard at work recording Corneille’s second CD. The process has been smooth and the songs sound great. It really is amazing to see how fast Corneille works. I love the new songs and I’m sure that his fans will love them, too. His singing is as strong as ever and his melodies and lyrics are perfect, as usual. I really am fortunate to be able to play with such a great artist.

Once Corneille’s CD was completed we went to New York City and spent two weeks at Electric Lady Studios (Jimi Hendrix’s studio (!)) and recorded yet another CD with Corneille. It was such a thrill to record in this legendary studio. We were also lucky to be able to work with Grammy-winning engineer, Russell Elevado (D’Angelo, Alicia Keys) to capture the sounds. The music sounds amazing.

The next step will be to promote Corneille’s new CD in Paris, and then after that the rehearsals for the winter tour will start in December. That will take us up into the new year and the tour. I look forward to seeing many of you at the concerts in 2006.

So, enough about me. Drop me a line and tell me about yourselves.

Thanks,

Andy