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Last night, I had the distinct pleasure of attending the JP Cormier (https://www.jp-cormier.com/) concert at the ALM Studio in Burk’s Falls, Ontario. It was the first time I’d ever seen him perform live and in person, and I feel compelled to recount the experience.
It’s been close to eight years now since I began to host a radio show about songwriting on Hunters Bay Radio, The Bay 88.7FM, and I am constantly reminded and astounded by all I have yet to learn about great music. When I began broadcasting the show, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on many of the players and songwriters out there who were exceptional. I listened to Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola, Joe Pass, Julian Bream, Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, and hundreds of others, but weekly, I am humbled by all that I do not know. Off the top of my head, and since I began to host LYRICAL WORKERS, I can think of ten artists who have astounded me with their talents, and that is in Ontario alone. London, Ontario-born multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and teacher, JP Cormier is one of those artists.
My introduction to JP Cormier came about 5 years ago, when I was looking for songs about war for my Remembrance Day special, and Shauna Leigh Taylor directed me to Cormier’s song “Hometown Battlefield”. The song is a powerful commentary on the post-war trauma to which so many veterans fall prey, and it prompted me to investigate this songwriter further. That song was a fitting addition to the setlist, performed on Remembrance Day 2022. While I have been playing Cormier’s songs on my show for years, and he is among a rapidly growing number of Canadian songwriters that I place among my favourites, I had no idea what an accomplished musician he is. I won’t recite all of his accolades; it would fill 20 pages or more, and besides, that is something well documented on the internet. Let it suffice to say that on Friday night, I was quite simply astounded by his talent, and I am getting harder to impress as I become more and more apprised of Canada’s huge roster of talent.
Cormier was accompanied by the great Jake Lauzon, a Markham, Ontario-born multi-instrumentalist Bluegrass picker who is so skilled that guitar manufacturers are scrambling to have him endorse their instruments. Cormier introduced him as one of the best Bluegrass pickers in all of Canada, and I suspect he’s right. After all, it takes one to know one. From the first song they played, there was magic in the room, and by the end of the night, that packed house was humming like a well-tuned V-12. At the risk of stating the obvious, there is nothing like good, live music to recharge the soul. Cormier’s warm and entertaining wit and his superb storytelling got my attention, but the over-the-top performances of two virtuoso pickers shifting into high gear cinched the deal for this unexpecting attendee. No question about it, I was gobsmacked! That was musical magic, and I felt blessed to have attended an intimate concert with two of Canada’s exceptional musicians.
If you have the opportunity to attend a concert at ALM Studio in Burk’s Falls (https://www.aboutlivemusic.
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer ©2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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