Julie Elaine Doiron (born June 28, 1972) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian heritage.[1][2] She has been the bass guitarist and co-vocalist for the Canadian indie rock band Eric's Trip since its formation in 1990. She has released ten solo albums, beginning with 1996's Broken Girl, and is also the lead singer for the band Julie and the Wrong Guys.
Julie Doiron | |
|---|---|
 Julie Doiron live in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Julie Elaine Doiron |
| Also known as | Broken Girl |
| Born | June 28, 1972 Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Genres | Folk rock, indie rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, photographer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, bass, drums |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | Jagjaguwar, Sappy, Acuarela Discos, Endearing, Sub Pop |
| Website | www |
Career
editDoiron started playing guitar (later switching to bass) in Eric's Trip at the age of 18, having joined the band at the insistence of her then-boyfriend, Eric's Trip guitarist Rick White. Shortly before the band's break-up in 1996, she released a solo album under the name Broken Girl, which followed two previous 7-inch EPs ("Dog Love, Pt. 2" & "Nora") also released under that name. All of her subsequent material has been released under her own name. She started her own label, Sappy Records, to release several of her solo efforts.[3] Although most of her solo material has been written and performed in English, she also released an album of French language material, Désormais, as well as several EPs of material sung in Spanish.
In 1999, Doiron performed at the 1999 Stardust Picnic festival at Historic Fort York, Toronto.[4] That year she 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. Also in 1999, she was featured in a film, entitled Salt, which was filmed that fall. The film was created by the National Film Board of Canada, and released in 2000.[5][6] 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. In 2006 she helped launch SappyFest with Paul Henderson and Jon Claytor as an extension of the reinstated Sappy Records.[7] She has also released a split record co-credited to the alternative country band Okkervil River, and collaborated with Frederick Squire and 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. She also played drums as part of a short-lived duo with Fred Squire. Initially called "Blue Heeler", they changed their name to "Calm Down Its Monday", and released a split 7-inch EP on K Records, with two solo Doiron songs on the flip side.
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.[8] She often does her own promotional photos and cover artwork along with her ex-husband, painter Jon Claytor.
Her album Woke Myself Up was shortlisted for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize.[9][10][11]
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.[12] 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 the tour to support the 2009 album I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day, the mayor of Bruno, Saskatchewan proclaimed June 7, 2009, as "Julie Doiron Day". Doiron performed at the local All Citizens arts centre on that day.[13]
Over the three-year period between I Can Wonder and her 2012 album So Many Days, Doiron moved several times, residing at different times in Montreal, Toronto and Sackville.[14] While living in Toronto, she had difficulty making ends meet due to the city's high cost of living,[15] and began teaching yoga classes, and performing a weekly residency at the Saving Gigi club, to help pay the bills.[15] By the time So Many Days was released in the fall of 2012, she had moved back to Sackville.[16]
In July 2014, Doiron's song "The Life of Dreams", from I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day, appeared in an iPhone commercial.[17]
In 2016, Doiron collaborated with musicians Jon McKiel, C.L. McLaughlin, Michael C. Duguay, James Anderson and Chris Meaney on the project Weird Lines, whose self-titled album was released on Sappy Futures in July.[18] She then collaborated with Eamon McGrath, Mike Peters and Jaye Schwarzer on the project Julie and the Wrong Guys, which released a self-titled album in 2017 on Dine Alone Records.[19] In 2017 and 2018, Doiron has also released several EPs of Spanish language renditions of her own previously recorded songs.[20]
In 2021 Doiron released the album I Thought of You.[21] Her first full-length solo recording in nine years, it includes musical contributions from Daniel Romano and Dany Placard.[21]
Collaborations
edit- Appeared on the 2005 Herman Dune album Not On Top, playing bass and providing vocals
- Provided vocals for several tracks on the 1999 album The Moon by The Wooden Stars
- Provided vocals on Snailhouse's 2001 album The Opposite Is Also True
- Contributed vocals on Baby Eagle's 2007 No Blues
- Contributed vocals on Mount Eerie's 2008 Lost Wisdom
- Contributed vocals to Attack in Black's song "I'm A Rock" on the Autumnal Tour 2008 7-inch
- Contributed vocals on Daniel Romano's 2013 album Come Cry With Me
- Contributed vocals on Mount Eerie's 2019 album Lost Wisdom, pt. 2, a continuation of their prior collaboration in 2008.
- Contributed vocals on Dany Placard's 2020 album J'connais rien à l'astronomie
Discography
editSolo albums
edit- Broken Girl * (Sub Pop, Sappy) – 1996 (Reissued by Jagjaguwar with the "Dog Love, Pt. 2" & "Nora" EP's as bonus tracks) - 2003
- Loneliest in the Morning (Sub Pop, Jagjaguwar (reissue with bonus tracks)) – 1997
- Will You Still Love Me? * (Tree Records, Sappy) – 1999
- Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars (Tree, Sappy) – 1999, Jagjaguwar (CD reissue in 2002, vinyl only re-issue in 2013)
- Désormais * (Jagjaguwar, Endearing Records) – 2001
- Heart and Crime (Jagjaguwar, Endearing) – 2002
- Goodnight Nobody (Jagjaguwar, Endearing) – 2004
- Woke Myself Up (Jagjaguwar, Endearing) – 2007
- I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day (Jagjaguwar, Endearing) – 2009
- So Many Days (Aporia Records) – 2012
- Julie Doiron Canta en Español Vol. II (Acuarela) - 2017
- Julie Doiron Canta en Español Vol. III (Acuarela) - 2018
- I Thought of You (You've Changed) - 2021
Albums marked with * have not been issued on vinyl LP
with Eric's Trip
editwith Julie and the Wrong Guys
edit- Heartbeats 7” (We Are Busy Bodies) - 2012
- Homeless 7-inch (Dine Alone) - 2016
- Julie & The Wrong Guys (Dine Alone) - 2017
Other
edit- Dog Love Part 1 cassette (as Broken Girl) (no label) – 1991[22]
- Dog Love Part 2 7-inch (as Broken Girl) (Sappy Records) – 1993
- Nora 7-inch (as Broken Girl) (Sappy) – 1995
- "More of Our Stupid Noise (So Fast) - 1996 Squirtgun Records
- Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars - Who will be the one 7-inch (plumline) – 1999?
- Julie Doiron / Okkervil River (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
- Lost Wisdom (Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron and Frederick Squire) – 2008
- Daniel, Fred & Julie (with Daniel Romano and Frederick Squire) (You've Changed Records) – 2009
- Julie Doiron Canta en Español ("La Alberca de Swan"/"Tus Niños") - 2015
- Weird Lines - 2016
- Lost Wisdom pt. 2 (Mount Eerie with Julie Doiron) – 2019[23]
- Julie & Dany (with Dany Placard) - 2022[24]
Notes and references
edit- ^ "Eric's Trip A Love Supreme". Exclaim.ca. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- ^ "Feist leads nominees for Indie Music Awards". CBC.ca. January 31, 2008. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
- ^ Dault, Meredith (Summer 2008). "Member News: Listening Up - Julie Doiron Finally Has the Fan Base She Deserves". Words & Music. 25 (2): 6 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "Live Reviews: The Stardust Picnic"[usurped]. Chart Attack, July 11, 1999, Howard Druckman
- ^ "Julie Doiron, on film". Theoldnet.com.
- ^ "Salt". Nfb.ca.
- ^ "Info". SappyFest. Archived from the original on 2019-03-25. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
- ^ Doiron, Julie; Roy, Ian (1999). The longest winter. N.B.: Broken Jaw Press. ISBN 9780921411956. OCLC 910356224.
- ^ "Arcade Fire, Feist on Polaris short list". CBC News. July 10, 2007. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
- ^ "Feist, Fire get Polaris noms". Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Love, Noah (2007-07-10). "Arcade Fire, Feist And The Dears Among Polaris Nominees". Chart. Archived from the original on 2008-12-21. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Annie Bender, "Living the life of dreams" Archived 2009-04-16 at the Wayback Machine. The Strand, April 9, 2009.
- ^ "June 7 Named Julie Doiron Day in Bruno, Saskatchewan". Exclaim!, June 9, 2009.
- ^ "Julie Doiron, 'So Many Days' (album stream)" Archived 2012-12-27 at the Wayback Machine. Exclaim!, October 16, 2012.
- ^ a b "Saving Julie Doiron, one small show at a time". The Globe and Mail, January 10, 2012.
- ^ "Days in the life of Julie Doiron". Victoria Times Colonist, November 15, 2012.
- ^ "Julie Doiron strikes deal for Apple ad using Life of Dreams song". CBC News, July 16, 2014.
- ^ Gregory Adams, "Weird Lines: Weird Lines (album stream)". Exclaim!, July 4, 2016.
- ^ "Julie Doiron & the Wrong Guys Reveal Debut Album, Share New Song". Exclaim!, July 26, 2017.
- ^ "Hear Julie Doiron's Spanish Mini-Album 'Canta en Español Vol. III'". Exclaim!, April 30, 2018.
- ^ a b Matt Bobkin, "Julie Doiron Announces 'I Thought of You,' First Solo Album in Nine Years". Exclaim!, September 21, 2021.
- ^ "Julie Doiron » albums". Archived from the original on 2009-11-21.
- ^ Strauss, Matthew (September 25, 2019). "Mount Eerie and Julie Doiron Announce New Album Lost Wisdom pt. 2, Share Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ Nina Corcoran, "Julie Doiron and Dany Placard Announce Julie & Dany, Share New Song “Mayo”: Listen". Pitchfork, January 27, 2022.
External links
edit- Official website
- Eric's Trip Live Archive – Guide to Eric's Trip's studio sessions and live concerts, including side-projects.