Oct 02 2006

October 2006

Hi everyone,

I hope that you are all doing well and that you have had a great summer. I am sorry that it took me so long to update the site with my news but I decided to check in at the end of the summer instead of the middle of it. I have not been too busy musically this summer but I did get a chance to do a few interesting projects. I was asked by my friend, Xavier Combs to play some guitar on one of his songs on his upcoming album. Xavier is a singer/songwriter and great guitar player living in Paris. We met last year while I was doing a TV show with Corneille and we hit it off. I have since jammed with him while staying in Paris and we have very complementary styles of guitar playing. I am pleased to be able to play on his song. He plays quite often in Paris, so for those of you in the area, check him out when you can. The song that I played on is called “Break The System”. I play some electric rhythm guitar and a solo at the end of the tune. Info on Xav can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/xaviervcombs

In July, I was also invited by my friend Rob Lutes (another great singer/songwriter and guitar player) to play a few songs with him at his appearance at the Montreal Jazz Festival. That was such a treat to be able to play with such a great musician like Rob. We did about four songs that night and it was an amazing experience to play with him and his incredible guitarist, Rob MacDonald. Rob Lutes’ third CD will be coming out in the very near future. You can see more of him at http://www.roblutes.com.

I performed with Dawn Tyler Watson at the Festival d’éte de Québec in July. That gig was amazing and it was great to be able to play with her again. As a bonus, Jean-Bertrand Carbou (the bass player with Corneille) played bass with us. The gig was definitely one of the high points of my summer.

I was hired to play a funeral for a friend of a singer that I worked with a few years ago. That was quite the experience. The ceremony was beautiful and we played some songs at certain parts of the service. We played some beautiful Québecois songs that I had never played before such as “Si Fragile” by Luc Delarochellière, “Si Dieu Existe” by Claude Dubois, and “Ceux Qui S’en Vont” by Ginette Rino. It was an emotional gig but I am glad to have the chance to have done it.

I did a small interview with a magazine called Guitare Xtreme and that was on sale in France over the summer. Sam Harrisson’s interview with Batterie magazine was also available.

Rehearsals for the next Corneille tour have started and it’s great to play his music again. This show will be much different than the one on the last tour. We definitely won’t be 12 musicians on stage! The formation is much smaller and the show will be more intimate this time around.

Probably the biggest news from this summer is that I got married at the end of August. I am a very lucky person to be able to share my life with my wife, Marie-France. Marie and I met while she was filming the studio sessions for Corneille’s album “Les Marchands De Rêves”. She filmed all of the sessions and she edited the “Making Of Les Marchands De Rêves” video clip that was shown on TV in France. Anyway, it was a great day for me to be surrounded by my friends and family. Gage, Dawn Tyler Watson, Yves, Coco, and Nadia all sang during the ceremony while Allister accompanied them on piano. It was wonderful.

Well, that’s’ it for now. I hope to see many of you on the tour in October and November. It’s been a while !

Andy

P.S. In my iPod: Rob Lutes – Gravity, Rob Lutes – Middle Ground, Bireli Lagrène Gypsy Project – Move, Sting – Live In Oslo, Horace Silver – The Hardbop Grandpop, Horizon – Gwoka, The Police – Live, Dee Dee Bridgewater – J’ai Deux Amours, Musiq – Aijuswanaseing, James Taylor – October Road, Sting – All This Time, Joe Ely – Live At Liberty Lunch

P.P.S Concerts that I saw this summer: Dixie Chicks, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Bireli Lagrène. All 3 were great !