Q. Who are you?
A. I’m presently one of the multi instrumentalists in the CELINE DION band. I play acoustic & electric guitars, Dobro, cittern, penny whistle and I sing back up as well. I was hired for the COURAGE WORLD TOUR as a permanent member in 2019. I also run a weekly streaming music and chat show called the STD SHOW…(Stories, Tunes & Distancing for those of you wondering why the heck we called it that).
Q. Where’d you come from?
A. I was born in Lachine on April 23rd 1961 the youngest of three boys. I spent the first five years of my life living in the GARDEN CITY section of STE ANNE DE BELLEVUE. When I was five we moved down to 45 Ste Anne St where I lived until I was 12 or so. I went to Macdonald Elementary School from kindergarten until grade three…then they bussed us out to Dorset Elementary School in the neighboring town of BAIE d’URFE. My dad died that year in 1970. I stayed at Dorset until the end of grade 7. Dorset is where I began my journey in music (besides having listened to my dad’s radio when I was real young). I learned to play the recorder, flute and sing there.
After my dad had passed away, my mom and brothers Steve and Mike moved a block north, still in STE ANNE’S and I went back this time to Macdonald High School from grade 8 to grade 11. I was in the music program there and learned to play the guitar, piccolo, alto sax, bass and a whole slew of other instruments. I started a few bands there too. I played on my first recordings for a band of guys older than me called AEON, the song was called CLOUDY WITH SHOWERS. When it became a hit the tune played on the radio station CKGM in the school lounge…nobody believed it was me! I was 15 at the time. I then went to Vanier College to study music for a semester…I started playing in bands that played in bars. I left there and went to John Abbott College until I graduated in 1982.
Since then I worked as a secretary, drove a truck, worked in a piano shop and played in maybe 50 bands, travelled the world over and performed on over 1500 recordings in some of the most famous studios in the world like ABBEY ROAD, THE POWER STATION, RCA VICTOR, SUN and ATLANTIC. I have performed with a host of artists from LUBA, ROCH VOISINE, RICHARD SEGUIN, KASHTIN, GERRY BOULET, GARY U.S. BONDS, ROGER HODGSON, BRYAN ADAMS, LADY GAGA, JAMES TAYLOR, JASON MRAZ (and many more). I have also spent years doing TV work, acted in a movie, and produced albums for other artists. I’ve been married…twice. I have three kids.
I released 7 of my own albums WELCOME TO THE WORLD (1994), BOULEVARD DES MINUSCULES (1996), COWBOY DUST (1999), LIVE IN BELGIUM (2001), STICKMAN (2004), EVERY LITTLE THING (2020) , ALL THE OTHER THINGS (2021) and one with LES FABULEUX ELEGANTS in 1999 for which I won one of my three FELIX awards. I continue to record and tour with CELINE DION as well as host the streaming music and chat show called The ST&D show (Stories, Tunes & Distancing) every friday night at 8pm right here on this website.