Additional Information
For PAN M 360, Alex Burger tells us about a special concert, a themed event entitled “Un coin du ciel.” Several local artists will join Alex on a multigenerational stage for a Kebamericana summit—that is, French-Canadian artists passionate about the building blocks of modern North American popular music: country, folk, blues, rock, “west” of the mainstream in this case. Anyone (or almost anyone) who grew up on this continent knows the foundations, whether they like them or not. That’s the premise of this “Un coin du ciel” evening, a multigenerational event, courtesy of Alex Burger, which brings together this Thursday at Club Soda (and Friday at Grizzly Fuzz in Quebec City) Mara Tremblay, Fred Fortin and Stephen Faulkner, Arielle Soucy, Veranda, Tom Chicoine, Cindy Bédard, Patrick Bourdon, and Véranda. Alex Burger explains it all!
PAN M 360: Un coin du ciel, which is also the title of a song by Renée Martel, is a Kebamericana celebration, isn’t it?
Alex Burger : Yeah, that’s what it looks like. In Quebec City the next day, Émilie Clepper and Simon Kearney will also be there with us.
PAN M 360: Being yourself a fervent practitioner in your songs, this evening makes perfect sense.
Alex Burger :I’d been thinking about doing a show like this for a long time, and it seemed like the right moment at Coup de coeur francophone; it was a lucky break. So now it’s happening, and I’m really happy it’s finally happening.
PAN M 360: How is it structured? Around an original repertoire? Classics? Cover versions?
Alex Burger : Okay, we have several guests, so there won’t be any covers. I’ve never been good at covers. So we’re going to play everyone’s songs, we’ll play some of my songs, and then it’ll all spill over… It’s going to be long! There will be a lot of guitar solos. The solos will be long too. People need to be ready; we’re going to make a lot of music. What’s important is that the material is good, that everyone can contribute a song or two.
Yes, I won’t give too much away, but I’m counting on Fred Portin because we love him. Mara Tremblay too. There are some slightly less well-known artists, like Patrick Bourdon; his time on the show will be a little shorter, but at the same time, it’ll be great to have his spotlight. There will be duets, of course, but I’ve also decided to create duets with the guests, not necessarily with me.
If you want to hear Ariel Soucy sing with Mara Tremblay, this is the right evening for it.
PAN M 360: Are there any other associations we can find out about beforehand?
Alex Burger : I don’t want to burn everything down, but it’s certain that Fred Portin and Faulkner, that’s going to happen.
PAN M 360: That’s great! We’ve never seen that before?
Alex Burger : No, that’s it. Faulkner was the first person who told me he wanted to play with Fred.
PAN M 360: Do the artists come with musicians or is there a house band behind them?
Alex Burger : The house band, that’s my band. It’s the band that accompanies me, 5-6 musicians. We’re going to be a great group! It’s the group that’s been with me since 2018.
PAN M 360: Collective arrangements for this evening?
Alex Burger : Since it’s my band, we’ve worked together for a long time. So we did this together. It was quite a collective effort. There wasn’t really a musical director. We’re not doing a staged show. We’re going for a rock show. We’ll play the songs. Whatever happens, happens. We’ll jam.
PAN M 360: So will the song introductions be improvised?
Alex Burner : Yes, a lot of things will be improvised. That’s always how we are in my band. There’s always that element of improvisation that’s part of the show.
I didn’t want to change that just because we were playing a bigger venue with guests. I didn’t want to compromise the tour. It’s also kind of the end-of-tour show.
We’ve been touring for the last album—Ça s’invente pas—for two years now.
PAN M 360: We understand that the end of your tour is turning into a big party!
Alex Burger :Often, at the end of a tour, we showcase what we’ve accomplished, how tight the band has become. Here, I’m doing that at Club Soda, and I wanted to do something different because I’d already done this concept of ending a tour in a big venue. I wanted to push us. This time, we’re taking a bit more of a risk.
PAN M 360: Of course, you’re doing lots of songs by your guests and it has to be good!
Alex Burger : We’re not repeating ourselves. We’re not stuck in our old patterns. For us, it’s an exciting show. We know where it’s going because we’ve already learned everything, but we’re not 100% sure. That’s what makes it fun. It’s great.
PAN M 360: You can’t make this stuff up, as expected! The album was released exactly two years ago, in October.
Alex Burger : Yes, exactly.
PAN M 360: So, it’s been thoroughly rehearsed. Are you going to play some songs from the album?
Alex Burger : Yes, I don’t know exactly how many, but also songs from the first album. We’ll see how many people want. It’ll be between a third and half of the show. Those who come to hear my songs will be satisfied. They’ll get plenty.
PAN M 360: An apotheosis beyond country! All the foundations of popular North American music are brought together here!
Alex Burger : That’s it. I was a bit more into progressive rock when I was younger, only to realize that with prog, you don’t get to play many shows. I’m kidding, I had a lot of fun making that music. I learned a lot from those structures. And I really dabbled in Americana because I even won an award that carried that label. At some point, it’s a question of whether it’s country or not… I’ve moved on from that. When I was doing more rock, I didn’t ask myself if I was making rock or not.
PAN M 360: It’s rock, it’s country, it’s folk, it’s blues. Bluegrass?
Alex Burger : There will be bluegrass. Veranda will be there!
PAN M 360: Oh yes, indeed. And what’s happening on your end after this show, which is intended as a conclusion to the Ça s’invente pas cycle?
Alex Burger : Right now, I don’t have much time for my projects; I’m touring with Bon Enfant as their bassist. After that, things will be pretty quiet. I’m going to start working on a third album, but taking it slow. I want to make an album just for the joy of it; I don’t really want to have a two-year deadline. No, for now, there’s no specific plan. It’s good to make an album when you have the ideas for it. You also have to give your fans time to want to listen to the next album.
PAN M 360: In any case, the rhythm is different for each artist. There are no rules in this regard.
Alex Burger : That’s it, and there are no plans in place on my end.
PAN M 360: So, whatever happens next, we can’t wait to be together in Un coin du ciel!
