Joël Lavoie

Joël Lavoie is a versatile guitarist, composer, singer-songwriter and studio technician. He is a graduate of the Grant MacEwan College music program with a Major in Performance and Composition. Joël has recently released his first solo recording, ‘La Récolte’(The Harvest) produced by the very talented and Edmonton’s own, Doug Organ, in the fall of 2008. “It’s basically a collection of songs that I’ve written in the past ten years and I wanted to put them on record with some killer musicians!” says Joël. His sound has been compared to Neil Young, Daniel Lanois and French singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel. Born in Peace River, Alberta, Joël was raised on a farm near the village of St. Isidore. He took up saxophone at the age of twelve but was seduced by the guitar and began studying blues, rock, and finger style techniques on that instrument. He began his performing career in 1995 with the band Cosmik Debris and his songwriting career in 1996 with Lé Twés. In their heyday, Lé Twés captured the imagination of the Franco-Albertan community. The group was a smash hit at the Loin des yeux, près du cœur event in Montréal (1998). Lé Twés recorded their one and only album ‘Les pieds dans bouette’ in 1999. They later disbanded because of the tragic death of their band leader Martin Lavoie. In 2003, Joël captured first place at the Gala albertain de la chanson, a provincial showcase for up-and-coming singer-songwriters. His song ‘Bonne nuit Pierrot’ won him a recording session with Radio-Canada.Joël is currently performing with his band Gojo and the francophone ‘Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’ band, Allez Ouest (Go West), which includes Jason Kodie, Mireille Moquin and award winning producer, Robert Walsh.