BIOS
Michael Jerome Browne
Born in South Bend, Indiana, Michael Jerome Browne’s home was filled with recordings of seminal blues and folk musicians. At eight years old, in his family’s adopted home of Montréal, his father started to take him to see foundational artists like Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. By age twelve Michael was bending a few blue notes on the harmonica and was teaching himself guitar when he saw Lightning Hopkins. That was when something clicked. He began to understand what was going on with blues guitar. Of course at that age he didn’t always understand the words, but the blues spoke to him in a profound and visceral way, and he knew this was something he needed to do.
By the age of fourteen, MJB was already a regular on the vibrant Montreal folk and coffee house scene, adding banjo, fiddle, and mandolin to his masterful command of guitars and harmonica, and delving into Old Time and Cajun music. From his first public performance until now his authenticity, integrity, and profound connection to the music comes through loud and clear. Whether he’s gliding a slide across his resonator guitar, amping up the intensity with his tremolo 12-string, or “hammering the claw” on his gourd banjo, Roots music lovers know from the first notes that they are in the room with an artist who has justifiably been heralded as an absolute treasure and one of the finest practitioners of traditional American Roots music.
Guillaume Jabbour
Né d’une mère québécoise et d’un père palestinien d’origine, et ayant grandi à Lachute, Guillaume Jabbour est musicien et artiste sonore. Membre de groupes de musique (Jabbour, Les Flâneurs, Grouyan Gombo), il a effectué des tournées de spectacles à travers le Canada et enregistré des albums. Fort de plusieurs expériences multiculturelles, il s’intéresse à la diversité culturelle des Québécois et aux questions linguistiques.
Le travail de l’artiste dans les arts sonores est axé sur la captation de son et la création d’archives sonores. Certains de ses montages audio ont été diffusés à la radio à l’échelle du Canada. Il fait appel à l’art de l’entrevue et à la création de montage audio artistique pour encourager le public à réfléchir et pour faire rayonner la culture de chacun.
Carl Rufh
Carl Rufh (Bass) is a musician’s musician! Carl has performed with many blues artists in Montreal at the famous Montreal Jazz Festival over 20 times since its inception with legendary guitarist, Jimmy James. Carl performs and records as well with the alt folk band The Echo Hunters. He is now concentrating his writing and arranging skills with the Durham County Poets.
Harlan Johnson
Harlan Johnson a passé sa jeunesse en Nouvelle-Écosse et au Nouveau-Brunswick avant de s'installer à Montréal pour y étudier les arts visuels. C'est à New York, en 1987, alors qu'il se consacrait à sa passion pour la peinture, qu'il a découvert la musique cajun en direct. Johnson est par la suite revenu à Montréal où Grouyan Gombo, est fondé en 2005. Des séjours réguliers en Louisiane l’ont permis pour approfondir sa maîtrise de l'accordéon.
Le deuxième album du groupe, *Pouyaille la reconduit au studio Staffland de Lafayette pour enregistrer un répertoire mêlant chansons traditionnelles et compositions originales. Avec *Beaubassin*, le troisième album de la formation, Johnson s’excerce a ecrire de nouvelles pieces qui évoquent ses passages entre le Québec, l'Acadie et la Louisiane.
Michael Ball
Born in 1960, Michael Ball is a lifelong student of the violin. He had classical training early on and carried that over to popular music in the mid 1980’s. In the 90’s, Michael toured all over Canada with, Quebec artist, Danielle Martineau’s band, “Rockabayou”. Michael’s connection to the Ottawa music scene began when he met his life and music partner Jody Benjamin at “Festival Boreal” in Sudbury in 1992. Together they have formed the duo -“Ball & Chain”, the band – “Ball & Chain and The Wreckers”, and a Zydeco project called “The Vanier Playboys”. They have released nine albums from 2002 to the present and have toured across the country. They’ve built a loyal following in Ottawa dance community. Michael also does session work and performs with several other artists, primarily in Ontario and Quebec. Michael’s musical tastes are varied and Cajun, Creole, Country, HonkyTonk, Folk, and Blues are his mainstay.