In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mostly on the run, his desk in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.
HIV positive since 1986 and a heart transplant recipient, this street musician who does not go unnoticed during his performances in Montreal has the originality of not playing for money – he does not have a donation container on him – and ‘to be fidgety.
Richard Archambault draws tunes inspired by AC/DC or Mötley Crüe from his thundering electric guitar while strolling for miles, sometimes from Peel Street to Papineau Street.
A makeshift harness is used to hang his amplifiers, electronic drums and distortion pedals.
If you want to hear the concert of this traveling Jimi Hendrix on the ax-shaped guitar, you have to follow him. This is what I did on Sunday on Promenade Ontario, in Hochelaga.
Sicilian orphan
This orphan born in Sicily, adopted by a Quebecer who was an officer in the air force, grew up in different Canadian army bases.
“While I was shining my father’s shoes, I heard an electric guitar on the radio and I asked for it as a present for my 8th birthday,” confides the self-taught musician, while scaring the squirrels in the park Hochelaga tuning his guitar.
The musician tunes his thunderous instrument in Hochelaga Park… which scares the squirrels!
Louis-Philippe Messier
Camelot, he saves up to buy a Gibson Les Paul for $500.
He had to pawn this marvel to have something to eat when he left home at the age of 16, in 1981, to live in Ottawa.
“I was ill-prepared for life outside the military base,” he admits.
It was a tough learning process.
After an argument with his father, this prodigal son can no longer return home.
He rents rooms or sleeps outside.
Addicted to injectable cocaine, the man who survived by working in restaurants for food and a few dollars became one of the first HIV-positive people in the province in 1986, at the age of 21, shortly after his arrival in the metropolis.
And the specter of AIDS is not his only worry, because it is also becoming cardiac.
“I had seven heart attacks last year, so I spent two months in the hospital: they cut me open like a fish, lots of cables all over my body, to put in a new heart,” tells me about the miracle, now medicated for his triple therapy and for his transplant.
“The good Lord doesn’t want me and the devil is afraid that I will take his place, so they let me live!” jokes this survivor.
His dream for 2025
Stabilized in public housing, the almost sixty-year-old now has the guitar as his only passion.
“My state of health does not allow me to work, but I can play. In 2025, I want to give as many concerts as possible, voluntarily or not,” he tells me, while his guitar tunes resound on the Promenade Ontario.
Some passers-by keep pace by shaking their heads.
An admirer comes to see him to give him a $2.
An admirer comes to give the guitarist $2 in person.
Louis-Philippe Messier
Children, mouths agape, widen their eyes.
“I dream of recording my compositions in a real studio, but I need help: I’m really not good at organizing myself,” he admits.
Is there a fairy godmother among you to help this surviving artist make his dream come true in 2025?
Richard Archambault can be reached through his Facebook page, whose presentation photo is a multi-colored spider guitar.
Winter doesn’t stop the guitarist from playing outside.
Louis-Philippe Messier
