Wednesday, June 17, 2009

GUY BELANGER - VIREE BLUES BOREALE - CLUB ADDICTION - WED., JUNE 17


Our National Ti-Guy is here to bring to a close the 9th edition of Virée Blues Boréale

It’s no secret: our next guest has been hitting the road for many years, an experience which allowed him to perform with a very large number of major artists, among which a certain Bob Walsh.... But he’ll be here with his own band and with his very appreciated solo material to bring to a high level close this 9th edition of Virée Blues Boréale.

At his beginnings, in 1974, Guy Bélanger definitely seems aligned toward a traditional Blues career. He meets Bob Walsh, also from Quebec City, who trains him in the Blues basics, sharing with him the capital’s many Blues stages; a first meeting with true on-the-job training. Later on, he joins the group Delta Blues Band and performs with them for over 4 years. The group presents some 250 shows a year in Ontario, Quebec and in the Maritimes, with a repertoire of mostly great classics It’s with the Delta Blues Band that he gets to perform with top names like Muddy Waters, Koko Taylor, Big Mama Thornton, James Cotton and Dutch Mason. All those different experiences contributed to greatly broaden his musical horizons. Then, in 1987, he joined Bob Walsh’s Blues group and took part in lots of shows among which the Montreal International Jazz Festival (for 7 years). In 1992, he was offered the opportunity to join the Montreal Blues group Wang Dang Doodle. These were excellent musicians and it lasted until 1996, after they launched an album. In 1995, Les Colocs invited him to be part in the recording and launch of their second album, Atrocetomique. Following that, his collaboration was requested by over 50 Quebecois and French artists.

In 2003, he met guitarist Claude Fradette. This will result in the soundtrack of the movie Gaz Bar Blues, which will be awarded the Jutra for the best music and the Lys Blues for best Blues album for 2003. Finally and until now, Guy is back with Bob Walsh and they tour Canada, Swiss, as well as France to rousing results! In February 2008, they launched an album made of compositions and collaborations that sold over 15,000 units and brought enthusiastic critiques:
(Freely translated ):

An eclectic while coherent album, easily listened to. High class through a small but fabulous instrument.
Marie-Christine Blais, La Presse

25 years of technical development, style improvement, expressing his sensitivity which, no boubt, raises him up to his masters level ... A must.
Jean Beauchesne, Le Journal de Québec

... a highly successful solo experience... It’s a smooth and powerful work.
Michel Truchon, Le Soleil

...after 30 years of harmonica ... an enormously pleasant album ... It’s melodic, more movie like
Sylvain Cormier, Fréquence Libre

Listen to this maturity, to this talent ...
Érick Rémy, Le Showbizz chaud / 98,5 »

...a solid album with quality guests...(examples)
Stanley Péan, Voir Montréal 4/5

Guy Bélanger is one of those constantly present musicians that are not often enough in the limelight . Guy Bélanger breaths easy but will leave you breathless, you can rest assured!!! So, it’s a rendez-vous with possibly some preview of our next edition, this Wednesday, June 17 2009 at 8h00 p.m. at Addiction, 117 Promenade Du Portage in the Old Hull sector for the wrap up of this 9th edition of Virée Blues Boréale. For inquiries or interviews, please do contact Alexandre Petit at: vireeblues@gmail.com. You can find further information on our featured artist at: www.myspace.com/guybelanger. And you should visit our own site for links to all our guests web sites and lots of other interesting information at: www.myspace.com/vireeblues.





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