The band
The award winning and highly acclaimed band Le Vent du Nord are a leading force in Québec’s exciting and progressive Francophone folk movement. The group’s vast repertoire draws from both traditional sources and original compositions, while their highly rhythmic and soulful music, rooted in the Celtic diaspora, is enhanced with a broad range of global influences.
Since first launching in August 2002, Le Vent du Nord have enjoyed meteoric success, performing well over 2,200 concerts over 4 continents, released 12 albums and racking up several prestigious awards, including a Songlines Music Awards – Americas (2023) a Grand Prix du Disque Charles Cros, two Junos (Canada’s Grammys), three Félix (Quebec), an OPUS (Quebec) a Canadian Folk Music Award, and “Artist of the Year” at Folk Alliance Annual Gala.
The group regularly appear on Canadian, American, French, and UK television and radio and have participated in a wide variety of special musical projects that exhibit their great finesse and flexibility. They’ve collaborated and performed with a diverse range of artists including: Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, Harry Manx, Väsen (SE), Dervish, The Chieftains, Breton musical pioneer Yann-Fañch Kemener, Québécois roots legend and master storyteller Michel Faubert, the Scottish folk band Breabach, and the trans-Mediterranean ensemble Constantinople. Not to mention all traditional Quebec bands they invite on stage on their annual La Veillée de l’avant-Veille (music & dance party downtown Montreal).
Le Vent du Nord look beyond the standard approaches to tradition in their collaborations and they’ve also created a symphonic concert that, according to Voir Montreal, “puts all traditional folk naysayers to shame.”
On stage these five friends [Nicolas Boulerice, André Brunet, Réjean Brunet, Olivier Demers, and André Gagné replacing Simon Beaudry in march 2024] create intense, joyful and dynamic live performances that expand the bounds of tradition in striking global directions. This is the modern sound of tradition, a music of the here and now.
Biography
Nicolas Boulerice
Nicolas 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 active on the folk circuit for the last ten years, starting out with Ad vielle que Pourra and MontcorbieR. Alongside Olivier Demers, he recorded the album Le vent du nord est toujours fret… , which was the genesis of the group 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 co-founder & co-organiser of La Veillée de l’avant-Veille (a major dance night event in Montreal now in its 22nd year), and also of the Chants de Vielles festival in Québec.
André Brunet
André Brunet was born in Lacolle, in Québec’s Montérégie region. Growing up, it was his parents who first noticed his keen interest in music and encouraged him to follow his passion. André’s first love was for the violin and, at the age of nine, he began taking lessons.
Along with brother Réjean, he created Les Frères Brunet and went on to record several albums and perform at various concerts around the world. In 1997, André’s unwavering energy and refined style earned him a spot with La Bottine Souriante, with whom he toured more than 15 countries over the course of 10 years. Although his journey with La Bottine Souriante came to an end in 2006, André remained immersed in traditional music. He joined Le Vent du Nord in 2016.
At the Grand Masters Fiddling Competition in 2008, André took home the top award (the first time a Québécois had won this prestigious honour!). Between 2004 and 2017 he toured with De Temps Antan and since 2018, he has been a member of Le Vent du Nord. His passion for traditional Québec music continues to pave the way for dance and swing enthusiasts the world over.
Réjean Brunet
Réjean started playing traditional Québécois music as a very young boy, growing up in the village of Lacolle, Québec.
After performing as a duo with his brother André (well-known for his work with La Bottine Souriante and the Celtic fiddle festival) 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. and 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. He has been a member of Le Vent du Nord since 2007.
Olivier Demers
Trained as a violinist and also a 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, Cirque du Soleil, Michel Faubert, The Bills, Dany Bédar, Boom Desjardins, Les Ours, Mario Pelchat, Ovo) as well as to compose music for the NFB [National Film Board of Canada] 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, was named as Canada’s best traditional music album for 2006) and has been very active in promoting the tradition as co-founder of La Veillée de l’avant-veille, Roues et Archets record label and as co-organiser of the Chants de Vielles festival in Québec.
1000 airs du Québec et de l’Amérique francophone – TOME I
André Gagné
André (Dédé) is a musician and singer born in St-Côme, Lanaudière. It was in his native village, nicknamed the capital of traditional Quebec song, as well as in his maternal family, that André discovered folk music. It was in high school that he was introduced to traditional arts. He studied guitar at Joliette and St-Laurent college.
In 2005, he founded the group “La Giroflée” with childhood friends. It’s with this group that he recorded his first album in 2008: “J’ai dans la mémoire”. They revisit together several laments and songs from St-Côme.
He participates in the musical creation of Cirque Alfonse for three of their shows: La Brunante, Timber! And Barbu foire électro Trad. This experience will allow him to perform more than 700 times on stage in more than 16 different countries. In 2015, with his friend and colleague Dâvi Simard, he rearranged the pieces taken from the last show to list them on the album “Musique de barbus”.
During the same period he joined the group Réveillons! With which he recorded the group’s third album: “À la chasse pour chasser”, and performed with them in several festivals in Canada and Europe.
André’s powerful and warm voice as well as his guitar pick shot have been heard in the 4 corners of the planet. For the last year he has been working on his solo project “Welly”, a reinterpretation of the songs performed by his great-grandfather Welly Lepage.
He is very proud and honored to join Le Vent du nord to replace one of the pillars of the group, Simon Beaudry, a native of the same village as him.
le Vent du Nord joins forces with Arbre-Évolution
Since 2019, Le Vent du Nord is partnering with Arbre-évolution, a solidarity cooperative that promotes the well-being of communities through a symbiosis between the forest, humans and their environment. By investing in the Social Reforestation Program, Le Vent du Nord wishes to offset its carbon footprint as well as support – annually – two key projects in Quebec’s living environments.
