The next few months promise to be busy for Wilfred Lebouthillier. First, he participates in the new season of Zenithbefore releasing a third album with his group, Les Gars du Nord, which will be the premise of a new tour. He recently agreed to talk to us about all his projects.
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Wilfred LeBouthillier is not necessarily the one who will most enjoy getting out of his comfort zone. However, he agreed to participate in the new season of Zénith, hosted by Véronique Cloutier. “When the production people approached me, I asked them what they expected from me. I’m not the one who’s going to go there to dance or do things that are far from him. But it tempts me to trip. And from the first meetings, I felt that I had great freedom: I will have control over everything I propose.” Participating in this show is a long-term task, since last September he has been thinking about the different numbers he could present.
But Zénith is not Wilfred’s only big project for this winter, since he is also preparing the release of a new album with Les Gars du Nord. They finished recording the songs at the end of last year, but there is still a lot of work to do to prepare for the release and launch of The Quiet Years. “Usually, an artist releases a Christmas album when their career is already established and they have several albums under their belt. We started by releasing a Christmas album, more than 10 years ago. Initially, the group was a holiday project. But as there was demand, we offered a first album.”
A GROUP PROJECT
After the release of the group’s first album, its composition changed, since Jean-Marc Couture left to join La Chicane. And the addition of several musicians meant that there are now seven guys from the North. “Our album Les fils du père truly cemented the current group. Initially, our group’s career took place mainly in New Brunswick, but we now have demand to play at festivals throughout Quebec. We manage to do nearly 70 shows a year.” However, Les Gars du Nord is not a band like any other: its concept and its imagination are very anchored in its roots. “Our universe belongs to the past. We take inspiration from the 1930s, 40s, 50s up to the 1960s, with songs that tell stories from those years. We try to take people on a journey with our music, which has a country flavor, a folk side and Celtic influences. It’s a little mix of all that.”
Wilfred LeBouthillier composes the music, while Danny Boudreau writes the lyrics. “We also created characters in the group. And in our songs, we invent an imaginary world, inspired by certain stories from the world back home; We’re going to draw on stories that our parents or grandparents told.”
A REVERSE PATH
Wilfred admits that for the moment he has no desire to relaunch his solo career. “I want to concentrate on this project, because I really have fun doing this with the guys. We’re a great gang, like a family, and I think we’re building something interesting.”
He is also very happy to follow a path that he did not take at the start of his career. “When I started in this industry, I came straight to the top, but I’m experiencing exactly the opposite with this group. We are building a career. It’s a long process, we self-produce — we invest our own money — but it’s really exciting. And it’s very rewarding!”
Wilfred LeBouthillier takes part in the new season of Zenithbroadcast Thursdays at 8 p.m. on -. The release of the new album, The quiet yearsfrom the group Les Gars du Nord, is scheduled for the end of March.
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