Today, Friday, October 28, 2022, Acadian artist Chris Belliveau releases his first album. The self-titled album is being released on Moncton’s label Le Grenier musique. It is available in digital format on all listening platforms worldwide. You can access it from here: https://smarturl.it/wyqi70.
The well-known musician from Memramcook, in southeastern New Brunswick, worked with his long-time friend and accomplice Mike Trask on this album. Chris Belliveau wrote the lyrics and the solid musical framework of the record, which has the signature vintage recording feel of most records made at the MRC Studio in Memramcook. Only he and Mike Trask were involved in the recording and sound engineering. Chris Belliveau is on lead vocals, guitar, bass, and lap steel while Mike Trask is on drums.
His inspirations? Cajun music, country, and blues from the 60s and 70s. For the lyrics, he tells rather personal stories or those of people he knew or met at home or on the road. But every time, he tries to make caricatures of them, which defines his writing style. The album features nostalgic flashes of the rock-folk sound of JJ Cale or Link Wray, the energy of Eagle of Death Metal, Gros Mené or Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire, and local stories in the style of Thomé Young or Menoncle Jason, told in the style of Serge Gainsbourg.
Accompanied by Mike Trask at MRC Studio, the two experienced artists managed to work on this album whenever they had some free time in their studio between recording for other artists. This is how this magnificent album was born, completely francophone, with a blues rock pop sound and a unique and well-marked identity.
No more “creative frustration” of a “side man”
This album project started in 2018 while he was taking part in many Acadian musical projects and felt a “creative frustration” since he was always a “side man”. Since he was 15 years old, he has been hired as a side musician by many famous artists, in house bands and on TV shows. He has worked with many artists but has rarely been involved in the songwriting process. The songwriter in him felt it was time to let his creativity flow in writing and composing his own songs.
Chris Belliveau has participated as a musician on recordings by artists such as Caroline Savoie, Les Hay Babies, Cédric Vieno, Dominique Dupuis, Kevin McIntyre, The Backyard Devils, Daniel Léger, Phil Flowers, Tradition, Réveil, Mélanie Morgan and Raphaël Butler, among others. His fine expertise has allowed him to become director or co-director of albums including Jacques Surette II (2020), Groundé by Daniel Léger (2018) and Dans son prime by Menoncle Jason (2017).
A member of the former bands The Backyard Devils and Izzy and the Prohibition, he is still regularly seen on stage accompanying artists. He was part of the show “L’Acadie un pays qui se raconte” which was performed more than 80 times in France. He was also a musician on the famous Radio-Canada television show “Méchante soirée” for 6 years, where he accompanied a different artist each week. Chris Belliveau is a very talented artist who has accumulated a lot of experience on stage and in the studio, in different musical genres and in front of a large and varied audience. A true musical chameleon, he now asserts himself for the first time in a solo career.
The production of this album was made possible in part by the financial support of Music New Brunswick and Le Grenier musique.
