| CD REVIEW Erik Mongrain |
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Band : Erik Mongrain As a youngster, bi-lingual Montréal born Eric Mongrain (° April 12, 1980) grew up with the sounds of Metallica, Jimi Hendrix, but it was mostly through Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain that he discovered his passion for the guitar. He was given his first classical guitar at the age of 14 and had soon learned to play his favourite songs by ear. One year later he bought an electric guitar, which allowed him to emulate Nirvana songs. During the next 4 years he continued to learn playing guitar on his own, composed his own music, and discovered the classical guitar works of Johann Sebastian Bach…which he learned by heart. When he was about 18 he also got wind of the works of Canadian guitar giant Don Ross (known for his fingerstyle play) and decided on the acoustic guitar as his favourite musical instrument. He also discovered the music of American musician Michael Hedges (another fingerstyle guitarist, of whom he is still a fan to date) and got acquainted with the technique of “lap-tapping”, where the guitarist puts the guitar on his lap and then taps the chords as if it were a piano. At that time, Erik was still a street musician (and as such he’s not only played the streets and subway stations in Montréal and the US, but also in Europe), and the emulation of the new technique in his play had an immediate effect on the people he encountered, as passers-by would become his first fans! He couldn’t help but get noticed, and in 2005 came an invitation to make and play the music on two songs of Lynda Lemay’s Un paradis Pour Quelque Part album. Lynda is a well-known singer in all French-Canadian territories, but also in France and Belgium, and to top off that collaboration Erik got featured alongside Lynda in French television program Un Dimanche Soir Avec with Michel Druker (a popular show which is viewed by some 20 million people). 2006 then, the recordings of Eric’s debut full-length Fates (released as download late December that same year, the hard copy of the album became available through Prophase Music in June 2007) with Serge Fiori (known as the former lead singer/ guitarist for Progressive Rock act Harmonium; active between 1973-1978, delivered 3 studio albums and a post-humous live one – Fiori made a 1986 solo album and some surprise guest appearances around the same time, but restricted his work in the music business mainly around film scores, advertisement jingles, and New Age meditation music) as producer. But for Erik the year 2006 would be much móre than the culmination of the two years of work on the album’s material, as he was called upon by Paul Reed Smith (of PRS Guitars)in October to do two benefit performances (for the Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore). In return Smith offered Erik to build a custom guitar to the latter’s specifications, and use him as lead spokesman for his neww PRS Acoustic Guitar Series! By that time, Erik had already composed and recorded the soundtrack of a French documentary about the Canadian wolf titled A L’Écoute Du Loup, and music of Erik’s is also used in the soundtrack to the documentary Everest: A Climb For Peace (narated by revered Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom, by the way), which relates the United Nations endorced climb of Mount Everest by a team including people of different faiths and cultures (including Christians, Israelis, and Palestinians). 2007 kicked off beautifully as well, with Erik being selected to be part of the Guild catalogue of that year (Guild is a renowned acoustic guitar make, if you didn’t know). Then a Japanese film team from the national television network NHK went over to Montréal to make footage of Erik’s life and performances for inclusion in a documentary (aired within the entire NHK network) titled World Music Heritage. And following the hard disc release of Fates, Erik is then asked by Tim Hoffman of iVideoSongs to be part of the latest of iTunes products. So, Erik flew to Atlanta to record 3 tutorial videos of 20 minutes each. Erik’s sophomore album was recorded in August 2008, this time at Paul Reed Smith’s personal studio (TheDragonCrossing Studio) in Annapolis (Maryland, USA) with Bill Plummer as sound engineer (has mixed artists like the Cure, Maroon 5, Carlos Santana, Audioslave, Toni Braxton, Anita Baker, Beyoncé, Whitney Houston, Herbie Hancock, and many more…even got nominated for a Grammy for his work on Bebe Winans’ Live And Up Close album) and additional musician (he put in the occasional synthesizer sounds). Also bringing in some guest fretless bass performances on a couple of the songs, is the renowned Michael Manring [known not only for his solo outings, but also for some of his collaborations (for more info, check Manring’s page at Wikipedia), one of which includes Michael Hedges…as you know, one of Erik’s heroes…in fact, you’ll find Manring on àll of the 7 Hedges albums!]. The nine tracks on the album are all darn beautiful, and a simple pleasure to listen to…even if you’re not that much into acoustic guitar music…because the lap-tapping technique adds little sound oddities to the play which are quite simply de-lect-able! In the booklet (not issued with our promo copy of the album) you’ll find liner notes by the artist with each track (get a sneak preview from the artist’s page at…yeah, Wikipediaagain)! Check out a couple of songs (one of ‘em “Alone In The Mist” with Manring) at myspace.com/erikrain, where you’ll also find 3 full-length tracks off Faces and a couple of videos! For samples of all songs on the album (in case what you already heard ain’t enough for you to get convinced) google “eric mongrain equilibrium” and link up with the page at cduniverse.com. Personally, I knów that (given half a chance) I’ll take the occasion to listen to this album some more in the future! I can already imagine myself sitting on the porch on a hot Summer evening (a rarity in Belgium, I’ll admit…but they dó happen) with a cool longdrink on the table nearby, eyes closed, the speakers gently spewing the soothing sounds of this album. Sounds heavenly, indeed! 90/100 Tony. |