The atmosphere at Showmedia studios, rue Parthenais, is very Woodstock. These are the words of Laurence Lebel, the daughter of Renée Martel, when she welcomes us where her project of homage to her mother is turning into a great show.
Laurence has brought together 12 artists on an album which includes songs by Renée Martel, who died in 2021. From this disc is now born a concert, in which participate Alexe Gaudreault, Antoine Corriveau, Elliot Maginot, Étienne Coppée, Fanny Bloom, Gab Bouchard, The sisters Boulay, Pilou, Saratoga and Tire le coyote. To complete the group in beauty, Cindy Bédard and Mara Tremblay, who are not participating in the disc, will also be performing.
Bringing all these beautiful people together, for three days of rehearsals and then for the concert, “it’s a miracle”, says the musician and director Pilou in an interview.
The idea of bringing together this “beautiful skewer” for a show germinated almost at the same time as that of making the album C’est notre histoire. To make this beautiful tribute live longer, more vividly, what better than a direct meeting with the public? Les Francos, “it’s the best place to do it,” says Laurence.
Rehearsal begins. After a few attempts, the singer-songwriter and director Pilou, who today also holds the role of director and musical director, finally manages to bring all the artists together behind their microphone. Yes, the atmosphere is “Woodstockian”, a bit bohemian, and we work casually. But we work so that this show is up to the one to whom we pay tribute.
Pilou, with phlegm and naturalness, directs his star artists and the musicians who accompany them to create a beautiful cohesion. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done a big show like this,” he comments. Being on stage [he also plays and sings] and leading this beautiful gang is a return to basics. »
Apart from Laurence Lebel, who is the ideator and designer and who is also working on the staging of this show in honor of her mother, Pilou is the person closest to the project. It was he who produced the album last year, in addition to performing the piece C’est mon histoire.
After some prowess to reconcile everyone’s schedules, recording sessions took place last winter. For Pilou, making this album consisted in “putting all the elements in place so that everyone is well, feels confident, wants to surpass themselves and play”.
The atmosphere had to be right, “family”, to create a work that would represent Renée Martel well. Less in sound than in spirit.
“Renée was very fond of cocooning; for her, the musicians were family, says Pilou. We brought that back on the album and we want to recreate that with the show. It would be no no to have Alexe [Gaudreault] and the Boulay sisters side stage while we make a song where there are lots of voices and they are not on stage. My challenge is to get everyone to do choirs, to bring the spirit of a jam back to a living room, with everyone singing together. »
“With this project, I think Laurence was not looking to do a classic tribute to Renée Martel, but to revisit her works, because Renée was super interested in discovering new artists, says Stéphanie Boulay. We had a country color in our background when we started, but otherwise, it didn’t go to the obvious in terms of style. »
The singer-songwriter covers the ballad Mon roman d’amour, “one of his most emo tunes, which was the most likely that I could make a version of it that resembles me”. The Boulay sisters perform on the record and on stage the song Cowgirl Dorée.
Mélanie Boulay, when we talk to her about Renée Martel, thinks of an anecdote that showed her the relationship that the artist had with the youngest. “She had given an interview to Deux hommes en or, just after the scandal of Hubert Lenoir who had put the trophy in his throat at ADISQ. We asked her what she thought of that, she who has a lot of respect for ADISQ, for Félix Leclerc, for the institution. She replied the best thing I could have heard from someone of her generation: she said that when she was young, it was her generation that shocked the older ones. Their mandate was to destabilize, to move things forward. So of course she was shocked to see [what Hubert Lenoir had done], but she didn’t expect herself to understand. »
Renée Martel was in tune with the passing of time, in welcoming those who succeeded her. His daughter used to introduce him to new artists, such as Étienne Coppée, one of the last she was able to introduce him to and who uses the play Nos jeux d’enfants for the project. It was appropriate that musicians of the new generation take up his titles to pay homage to him.
Elliot Maginot knows how open Renée Martel was to the world, to the music of others. “I met her on the tribute show L’histoire de mes chansons,” he says. After that, we spoke by email. She sent me YouTube videos, telling me that she could see me covering this or that song, or just to show me songs she had liked. »
In rehearsal, during the passage of La Presse, the artists resume together C’est mon histoire, with Pilou at the main microphone.
With a few guidelines, everyone finds their place on the song, which already sounds wonderful in the Showmedia studio. Then it’s Alexe Gaudreault’s turn to rehearse Liverpool, followed by Tire le coyote who sings If we could start again. We hover between softness and impact, we find the distinct touch of each artist behind the words and melodies that belonged to Renée Martel.
“The album is very smooth, very contemplative and vaporous, observes his daughter Laurence. But the show we are going to present is rock, we have fun, it moves and we bring something more than on the album. We just can’t wait to bring the tunes to life. »
