Album Notes

Creating a bilingual double album (i.e., one disc in French, one in English) - one might say, the epitome of a particular interpretation of Canadian - is obviously no easy task. Ottawa's Gabriel Bouchard (a.k.a. Butch Bouchard), who has crafted such an entity in his Anecdotes/Coincidences release, may wonder if all the work is even worth it.
"I am bilingual so I write English songs, or French songs, but I haven't delved yet into the bilingual songs; it's a more touchy way of writing. I first thought I would use different stage names, one for the French stuff and one for the English stuff, as I was thinking of ways to develop myself in the public eye," recalls Bouchard.

"But already I've heard from some associations or agencies that can't promote my album because I'm not, say, purely francophone. It's odd, but that's what I do and I just thought it proper to launch a bilingual album off the bat."

And what about bilingual organizations?

"Not quite yet. Local record stores are obviously not biased at all, they're just interested in promoting any local artist that they either like or know about. I've been looking into local organizations but I've yet to find an agency that is interested in bilingual. I can see how some people wouldn't want to delve into promoting a bilingual artist. It's unfortunate, but I'm sure I'll be able to do some stuff."

Born in Digby, Nova Scotia, Bouchard travelled coast-to-coast as the son of military parents from Trois-Rivières. His first language being French, Bouchard learned English in his travels, yet has no recollection of the exact process. After moving to Ottawa 16 years ago, Bouchard played in the successful local rock band The Fully Down before quitting and taking nine months to determine his artistic trajectory. Bouchard produced Anecdotes/Coincidences in a University of Ottawa recording studio while simultaneously studying music education, working as a sound engineer and playing clarinet in the Governor General's Foot Guard reservist band. Bouchard is also in his third year parading the streets of Ottawa as a member of the Ceremonial Guard.

One would be hard pressed to find a musician who embodies the broad definition of "Canadian" or "bilingual" more than Bouchard, yet delineations within the music and cultural industries seem to be frustratingly impenetrable.

"Yeah, exactly. Again, I thought about the issue that people might not like it because it is in two languages, but that's what I am doing and that is what I'll be producing. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen, but obviously the difficulty has to do with the historical English vs. French century-old battle. But it's modern times and I think people should be more open about music, languages and cultures."

Absolument, Butch.