Le Vent du Nord

2004 Juno Award winners for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year/Group for Maudite moisson

Since its inception in 2002, Le Vent du Nord has exploded onto the folk music scene. The group’s first recording, Maudite moisson! , was awarded the JUNO for traditional album of the year in 2004 and was nominated for the same award by ADISQ. Their second album, Les amants du Saint-Laurent, was also nominated by ADISQ in 2005 in addition to being chosen album of the year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. 2005 was also the year that saw the group being rewarded as North American traditional artist of the year in Austin, Texas. Their show was nominated for an OPUS award and was named Show of the year by the American radio-concert series Bound for Glory. The group also appeared on the top-ten charts of a few radio stations, as high as #1 on CIBL Montréal and #5 on BBC3 in the UK, ahead of such well-known artists as Youssou N’Dour and Peter Gabriel.  In 2008 the band released the live album “Mesdames et Messieurs” recorded at Québec’s Festival Memoires et Racine and in 2009 they followed with the studio album “La part du feu” which won them another JUNO award. Now with the release of Tromper le temps they have shown once again how a group of very talented musicians can explore new horizons while keeping one foot firmly panted in the traditional music of Québec. Bravo!

Nicolas Boulerice
He grew up with the family repertoire and the songs collected by his father. His passion for traditional music led him to Ireland and France, where he learned to play the hurdy-gurdy. A young, talented and charismatic musician, Nicolas has been roaming the folk circuit for the last ten years, starting out with Ad vieille que Pourra and MontcorbieR. Alongside Olivier Demers, he then recorded the album Le vent du nord est toujours fret… , which was the genesis of Le Vent du Nord. He has also worked alongside several other artists such as the jazz septet Ovo, Les Batinses, Dobacaracol, Les Zapartistes, Benoit Charest and Michel Faubert. He is a founding member of Roues et Archets, a record label specializing in québecois traditional music, and is also co-founder of the Chants de Vielles festival in Calixa-Lavalee, Québec.

Olivier Demers
Trained as a violinist and also a solid guitarist, Olivier started out in chamber music and later moved on to jazz. His great versatility allowed him to work with a wide range of artists (La Bottine Souriante, Michel Faubert, The Bills, Dany Bédar, Boom Desjardins, Les Ours, Mario Pelchat, Ovo) as well as to compose music for the NFB and commercials. He now describes himself as a violoneux (fiddler), having devoted the past ten years of his life to traditional music. He has played with MontcorbieR, was part of the duo Boulerice-Demers (two albums, among which Un peu d’ci, un peu d’ça, rewarded as Canada’s best traditional music album for 2006) and has been very active in promoting the tradition as co-organiser of La Veillée de l’avant-veille (for the last 10 years), of the Chants de Vieilles festival and as co-founder of the Roues et Archets record label.

Réjean Brunet
Réjean started playing québecois traditional music as a very young boy. After performing with his brother (André, well-known for his work with la Bottine Souriante and the Celtic fiddle festival) as a duo and recording three albums, Réjean joined La Volée d’Castors. He toured with them for 8 years, performing in Europe, Canada and the U.S. as they released 5 albums. Réjean is also frequently invited by traditional musicians such as Sabin Jacques, Richard Forest and Gaston Nolet to join them on stage or in the recording studio. Réjean grew up in the village of Lacolle, Québec; he now showcases his great talent around the world.

Simon Beaudry
Hailing from Saint-Côme, Québec, an environment where tradition is still very much alive. Simon inherited a solid family musical background from both his grandfathers (one a fiddler, the other a singer) and went on to polish his craft by earning a music degree at Joliette College. He started out by performing, as a solo artist and in a duo with his brother Éric, traditional repertoire and songs from the great québecois songwriters in many cafes around his hometown. Later on, he accompanied the « Petits pas jacadiens » troupe of Saint-Jacques-de-Montcalm before joining Le Vent du Nord, with whom he now travels the world, displaying his sweet voice and his rich, personal guitar playing.