Le Vent du Nord: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Nicolas Boulerice
• Olivier Demers

Formed:

Jan 1, 2002

Genres:

Folk & Roots Music, Rock Music

Decades Active:

2000's

Based in the Frenchspeaking Quebec province of Eastern Canada, Le Vent du Nord is a fourmember group that has specialized in the traditional FrenchCanadian folk that locals refer to as Quebecois music (or la musique québécoise in French). The accordion, the violin, the mandolin and the hurdy gurdy (an instrument that goes back to medieval times and is known as the vielle à roue in French) are prominent ingredients of their sound, which draws on influences ranging from French medieval music to British folk to the Celtic music of Ireland, Scotland and Brittany. The Celtic influence in Le Vent du Nord's work is quite strongthey have no problem playing jigs and reelsbut unlike traditional Celtic artists from Ireland and Scotland, they sing in French. All four members of the group contribute to the vocals, and all four of them play instruments in addition to singing.

Le Vent du Nord (whose name means "the Wind of the North" in French) was formed in 2002, when Nicolas Boulerice (hurdy gurdy, acoustic piano) met Olivier Demers (a violin, fiddle and mandolin player who has played with the famous Cirque du Soleil) were both attending a music school in Quebec. A fire alarm that went off at the school forced Boulerice and Demers out of their practice rooms, and Demers ran outside with his fiddle in his hand; Boulerice saw Demers holding the fiddle and asked him if he knew any old Quebecois songs. Boulerice quickly realized that Demers was a major expert on classic Quebecois music, and it didn't take the two of them long to start performing together. Le Vent du Nord officially became a group when Boulerice and Demers joined forces with Réjean Brunet (acoustic bass, accordion, piano) and Simon Beaudry (guitar). Before joining Les Vents du Nord, Brunet had recorded with his brother André Brunet (known for his work with the influential Quebecois group la Bottine Souriante) as half of the duo Les Frères Brunet (which means The Brunet Brothers in French). Le Vent du Nord's debut album, Maudite Moisson, was released by the Torontobased Borealis Recordings in 2003, and their second album, Les Amants du SaintLaurent, was recorded for Borealis the following year. Borealis released Le Vent du Nord's third album, Dans les Airs, in 2007.

- Alex Henderson, All Music Guide