Julie Doiron
Encyclopedia
Julie Doiron is an award-winning Canadian
singer-songwriter of Acadian
heritage.
at the age of eighteen, having joined the band at the insistence of her then-boyfriend, Rick White
, also of Eric's Trip. Shortly before the band's break-up in 1996, she released a solo album under the name Broken Girl, which followed two previous 7" EPs also released under that name. All of her subsequent material has been released under her own name. Although most of her solo material has been written and performed in English, she also released an album of French language
material, Désormais.
In 1999, Doiron recorded an album with the Ottawa band Wooden Stars
, which was the first time she had worked with a band since the end of Eric's Trip. She shared a Juno Award
for Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars in March 2000.
Eric's Trip reunited in 2001, and have played shows periodically ever since. She has also appeared as a guest musician on albums by The Tragically Hip
(2000s Music at Work
), Gordon Downie
(2001's Coke Machine Glow
, 2003's Battle of the Nudes
and 2010's The Grand Bounce
), and Herman Düne
. She has also released a split record co-credited to the alternative country
band Okkervil River, and collaborated with American musician Phil Elverum on the 2008 Mount Eerie
album Lost Wisdom
. She played with indie rock band Shotgun & Jaybird
until their demise in 2007, but she and Frederick Squire have continued as Calm Down It's Monday
.
Apart from her musical career, Doiron is an avid photographer, having published a book of her photographs entitled The Longest Winter with words by Ottawa writer Ian Roy. She often does her own promotional photos and cover artwork along with her ex-husband, painter Jon Claytor. They both live in Toronto
, Ontario
, with their three children Ben, Charlotte, and Rose. At various points in her life, Doiron has also lived in Moncton, Montreal
and Toronto.
Her album Woke Myself Up
was shortlisted for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize
.
In 2009, Doiron told a reporter from The Strand, a college newspaper at the University of Toronto
, that she and Chad VanGaalen
were exploring the possibility of collaborating on an album. She appeared on a track from VanGaalen's EP of Soft Airplane
B-sides that year, but no further news pertaining to a potential album collaboration has been released.
During her tour to support her 2009 album I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day
, the mayor of Bruno
, Saskatchewan
proclaimed June 7, 2009 as "Julie Doiron Day". She performed at the local All Citizens arts centre on that day.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
singer-songwriter of Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
heritage.
Background
Doiron started playing guitar (later switching to bass) in Eric's TripEric's Trip
Eric's Trip is a Canadian indie rock band from Moncton, New Brunswick. Eric's Trip achieved prominence as the first Canadian band to be signed to Seattle's flagship grunge label Sub Pop in the early 1990s...
at the age of eighteen, having joined the band at the insistence of her then-boyfriend, Rick White
Rick White (musician)
Rick White is a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter. He was a member of indie bands Eric's Trip, Elevator, Perplexus, and The Unintended...
, also of Eric's Trip. Shortly before the band's break-up in 1996, she released a solo album under the name Broken Girl, which followed two previous 7" EPs also released under that name. All of her subsequent material has been released under her own name. Although most of her solo material has been written and performed in English, she also released an album of French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
material, Désormais.
In 1999, Doiron recorded an album with the Ottawa band Wooden Stars
Wooden Stars
Wooden Stars are a Canadian indie rock band formed in the 1990s. The band, from Ottawa, consists of vocalist and guitarist Julien Beillard, guitarist Mike Feuerstack, bassists Josh Latour and Mathieu Beillard, and drummer Andrew McCormack.-Style:...
, which was the first time she had worked with a band since the end of Eric's Trip. She shared a Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
for Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars in March 2000.
Eric's Trip reunited in 2001, and have played shows periodically ever since. She has also appeared as a guest musician on albums by The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as The Hip, is a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of Gordon Downie , Paul Langlois , Rob Baker , Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay . Since their formation in 1983 they have released 12 studio albums, two live albums, and 46 singles...
(2000s Music at Work
Music at Work
Music @ Work is the seventh full-length album by Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. It was released in 2000. It won the 2001 Juno Award for Best Rock Album...
), Gordon Downie
Gordon Downie
Gordon Edgar Downie is a Canadian rock musician, writer and occasional actor. He is the lead singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip. He has released three solo albums, Coke Machine Glow in 2001, Battle of the Nudes in 2003; and The Grand Bounce in 2010...
(2001's Coke Machine Glow
Coke Machine Glow
Coke Machine Glow was the first solo album released by Gordon Downie, the singer for The Tragically Hip. It was released in 2001.Early copies of the album were released as a joint package with a book by Downie, also titled Coke Machine Glow. The book included the song lyrics from the album and...
, 2003's Battle of the Nudes
Battle of the Nudes (album)
Battle of the Nudes is the second solo album by Gordon Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip. It was released in 2003.Downie's backing band on Coke Machine Glow was credited as "Country of Miracles"...
and 2010's The Grand Bounce
The Grand Bounce
The Grand Bounce is the third solo album by Gordon Downie, the lead singer of The Tragically Hip. It was released on June 8, 2010.-Background:...
), and Herman Düne
Herman Düne
Herman Düne is a French duo, formed in 1999. Originally a trio, the band now consists of David-Ivar Herman Düne and Néman Herman Düne . Néman, who is from Switzerland, replaced former drummer Omé in early 2001...
. She has also released a split record co-credited to the alternative country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
band Okkervil River, and collaborated with American musician Phil Elverum on the 2008 Mount Eerie
Mount Eerie
Mount Eerie is an Anacortes, Washington-based band fronted by Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal member of the band, but he has collaborated with many other musicians on his records.-History:...
album Lost Wisdom
Lost Wisdom
Lost Wisdom is an album by Mount Eerie, with Canadian musicians Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire. It was released 7 October 2008 on P. W. Elverum & Sun....
. She played with indie rock band Shotgun & Jaybird
Shotgun & Jaybird
Shotgun & Jaybird were a Canadian indie rock band based in Sackville, New Brunswick.-History:Shotgun & Jaybird formed in mid-2003 when Dick Morello, formerly of The Janitors, travelled to the Yukon and was later joined by his lifelong friend and former Janitor, Shotgun Jimmie, from Ajax, Ontario...
until their demise in 2007, but she and Frederick Squire have continued as Calm Down It's Monday
Calm Down It's Monday
Calm Down It's Monday were a Canadian indie rock two-piece band featuring Frederick Squire and Julie Doiron.Formed after the break-up of Shotgun & Jaybird, the twosome originally began playing as Blue Heeler, but changed to the name Calm Down It's Monday some time over the winter of 2007-2008.Their...
.
Apart from her musical career, Doiron is an avid photographer, having published a book of her photographs entitled The Longest Winter with words by Ottawa writer Ian Roy. She often does her own promotional photos and cover artwork along with her ex-husband, painter Jon Claytor. They both live in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, with their three children Ben, Charlotte, and Rose. At various points in her life, Doiron has also lived in Moncton, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Toronto.
Her album Woke Myself Up
Woke Myself Up
Woke Myself Up is an album by Julie Doiron, released in 2007.Doiron's former Eric's Trip bandmate Rick White produced and played on the album. Three songs on the album — "I Woke Myself Up", "No More" and "The Wrong Guy" — also include contributions by Mark Gaudet and Chris Thompson, the other two...
was shortlisted for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize
2007 Polaris Music Prize
The 2007 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 24, 2007 in Toronto.The winning album was Patrick Watson's Close to Paradise....
.
In 2009, Doiron told a reporter from The Strand, a college newspaper at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, that she and Chad VanGaalen
Chad VanGaalen
Chad VanGaalen is a Canadian musician and artist from Calgary, Alberta.-Infiniheart:Following a few scattered independent releases, done mostly on homemade CDs with hand-drawn art, VanGaalen released Infiniheart on Canadian independent label Flemish Eye...
were exploring the possibility of collaborating on an album. She appeared on a track from VanGaalen's EP of Soft Airplane
Soft Airplane
Soft Airplane is the third album by Chad VanGaalen, released in 2008 on Flemish Eye and Sub Pop. It was VanGaalen's first album to consist entirely of songs newly recorded for the album; his prior releases compiled tracks from a library of home recordings he had made over a number of years.The...
B-sides that year, but no further news pertaining to a potential album collaboration has been released.
During her tour to support her 2009 album I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day
I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day
I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day is an album by Julie Doiron, released on March 10, 2009.Recorded at the home studio of Rick White, the album's producer and Doiron's onetime bandmate in Eric's Trip, the album is more rock-oriented than Doiron's other solo albums, revisiting the sound and...
, the mayor of Bruno
Bruno, Saskatchewan
-Notable Names:Tyler Weiman -Notable Names:Tyler Weiman -Notable Names:Tyler Weiman (Professional Ice Hockey Goaltender for the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League-External links:...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
proclaimed June 7, 2009 as "Julie Doiron Day". She performed at the local All Citizens arts centre on that day.
Collaborations
- Appeared on the 2005 Herman DuneHerman DüneHerman Düne is a French duo, formed in 1999. Originally a trio, the band now consists of David-Ivar Herman Düne and Néman Herman Düne . Néman, who is from Switzerland, replaced former drummer Omé in early 2001...
album Not On TopNot On TopNot On Top is a 2005 album by Herman Düne.On this record Herman Düne are augmented by Canadian singer-songwriter Julie Doiron, who plays bass and provides some of the vocals. This is Herman Düne's first record to make significant use of bass guitar. It was recorded at Hall Place Studios in Leeds,...
, playing bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and providing vocals - Provided vocals for several tracks on the 1999 album The Moon by The Wooden Stars
- Provided vocals on SnailhouseSnailhouseSnailhouse is the pseudonym of the Canadian indie rock artist Mike Feuerstack. Feuerstack is also the guitarist of indie rock band Wooden Stars. Snailhouse is essentially a solo project with multiple contributing artists, including Julie Doiron of Eric's Trip, with production work by Jeremy Gara of...
's 2001 album The Opposite Is Also TrueThe Opposite is Also TrueThe Opposite is Also True is an album by the artist Snailhouse. It was released in 2001 on the label The Snailhouse Institute For The Recording Arts, and is distributed by Scratch Records. It was recorded and between 2000 and 2001, at Little Bullhorn Productions in Ottawa. It was mastered at SNB... - Contributed vocals on Baby EagleSteve LambkeSteve Lambke is a Canadian singer-songwriter. He is a vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock band Constantines, and releases solo material under the name Baby Eagle.-Biography:...
's 2007 No Blues - Contributed vocals to Attack in BlackAttack in BlackAttack in Black was a Canadian indie rock band from Welland, Ontario. They first signed to Skate Ahead Records for their self-titled album debut in 2005. In spring 2006, they signed with Dine Alone Records...
's song "I'm A Rock" on the Autumnal Tour 2008 7"
Discography
- Dog Love Part 2 7" (as Broken Girl) (Sappy RecordsSappy RecordsSappy Records is an independent record label based in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, started by Julie Doiron in 1990 in order to release her own cassette....
) – 1993 - Nora 7" (as Broken Girl) (Sappy) – 1995
- Broken Girl (Sub PopSub PopSub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman in Seattle, Washington. Sub Pop achieved fame in the late 1980s for first signing Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and many other bands from the Seattle music scene...
, Sappy) – 1996 - Loneliest in the MorningLoneliest in the Morning-Track listing:#"So Fast" - 2:09#"Dance Me" - 2:52#"Sorry Part I" - 2:17#"Tell You Again" - 2:23#"Explain" - 2:13#"Crying Baby" - 2:10#"Sweeter" - 1:34#"Tonight, We Sleep" - 3:28#"Mother" - 2:30#"Love to Annoy" - 2:37#"Creative Depression" - 2:27...
(Sub Pop, JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
) – 1997 - Will You Still Love Me? (Tree Records, Sappy) – 1999
- Julie Doiron and the Wooden StarsJulie Doiron and the Wooden StarsJulie Doiron and the Wooden Stars is a 1999 album recorded by Julie Doiron in collaboration with the indie rock band Wooden Stars. It represented the first time that Doiron had collaborated with a band since the end of Eric's Trip....
(Tree, Sappy) – 1999 - Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars - Who will be the one 7" (plumline) – 1999?
- DésormaisDésormaisDésormais is an album by Julie Doiron, released in 2001. It is her first, and to date only, album of French language material. "Désormais" translates to English as "Henceforth".-Track listing:# "Ce charmant coeur" - 2:15# "La Jeune amoureuse" - 3:21...
(JagjaguwarJagjaguwarJagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
, Endearing RecordsEndearing RecordsEndearing Records is a Canadian independent record label established in 1994, now based in Vancouver, originally based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Endearing Records has released many albums by Canadian indie artists since the mid 90s, such as Destroyer, The Meligrove Band, Julie Doiron, The...
) – 2001 - Heart and CrimeHeart and CrimeHeart and Crime is an album by Julie Doiron, released in 2002.-Track listing:#"Wintermitts" - 4:10#"Too Much" - 3:21#"Shivers + Crickets" - 2:48#"All Their Broken Hearts" - 3:43#"Sending the Photographs" - 4:18#"I Broke His Heart" - 2:47...
(Jagjaguwar, Endearing) – 2002 - Julie Doiron / Okkervil RiverJulie Doiron / Okkervil RiverJulie Doiron / Okkervil River is an album release, a CD split between Julie Doiron and alternative country band Okkervil River, was released on July 23, 2003.-Track listing:#"The Sweetest Eyes " – Julie Doiron...
(CD Split with Okkervil River) (Acuarela) – 2003 - Will You Still Love Me? + Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars (Japan Edition 2 disc with original booklet)(P-VINE Record, Japan) – 2003
- Heart and Crime + Désormais (Japan Edition 2 disc with original booklet)(P-VINE Record, Japan) – 2003
- Goodnight NobodyGoodnight Nobody-Track listing:# "Snow Falls in November" - 5:18# "Sorry Part III" - 2:31# "Last Night" - 3:07# "No Moneymakers" - 3:40# "Tonight is No Night" - 1:27# "Dirty Feet" - 3:17# "Dance All Night" - 3:22# "When I Awoke" - 3:05# "The Songwriter" - 4:43...
(Jagjaguwar, Endearing) – 2004 - Woke Myself UpWoke Myself UpWoke Myself Up is an album by Julie Doiron, released in 2007.Doiron's former Eric's Trip bandmate Rick White produced and played on the album. Three songs on the album — "I Woke Myself Up", "No More" and "The Wrong Guy" — also include contributions by Mark Gaudet and Chris Thompson, the other two...
(Jagjaguwar, Endearing) – 2007 - Lost WisdomLost WisdomLost Wisdom is an album by Mount Eerie, with Canadian musicians Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire. It was released 7 October 2008 on P. W. Elverum & Sun....
(Mount EerieMount EerieMount Eerie is an Anacortes, Washington-based band fronted by Phil Elverum. Elverum is the principal member of the band, but he has collaborated with many other musicians on his records.-History:...
with Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire) – 2008 - I Can Wonder What You Did with Your DayI Can Wonder What You Did with Your DayI Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day is an album by Julie Doiron, released on March 10, 2009.Recorded at the home studio of Rick White, the album's producer and Doiron's onetime bandmate in Eric's Trip, the album is more rock-oriented than Doiron's other solo albums, revisiting the sound and...
(Jagjaguwar, Endearing) – 2009 - Daniel, Fred & JulieDaniel, Fred & JulieDaniel, Fred & Julie is an album by Canadian indie rock musicians Daniel Romano, Frederick Squire and Julie Doiron, released December 1, 2009 on You've Changed Records....
(with Daniel RomanoDaniel RomanoDaniel Romano is a Canadian visual artist and musician, who has released material both as a solo artist and as a member of the band Attack in Black, and also as a frequent collaborator with other musicians, including City and Colour, Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire.Romano is also a partner in his...
and Frederick Squire) (You've Changed RecordsYou've Changed RecordsYou've Changed Records is a Canadian independent record label, owned by Daniel Romano and Ian Kehoe of Attack in Black and Steve Lambke of Constantines....
) – 2009
External links
- Julie Doiron official website
- Short story review of Woke Myself Up at The Wheel's Still in Spin