Dr. Draw

click on the Ilike button:) DR. DRAW's new album 'Adagio' is in stores now!
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Dr. Draw’s latest CD ‘Adagio’ is based on more emotion then ever before as Dr. Draw found inspiration from his childhood, which included listening to Russian folk tunes and epic classical masterpieces. This CD of all original material, written and produced by Dr. Draw is also an expansion from his classical roots and includes alternative influences such as Muse and Dead Can Dance with Pink Floyd inspired trippy grooves alongside.
With several hundred live dates around the world, independent Montreal-based electric violinist Eugene Draw aka Dr. Draw is one of the most dynamic live performers around. His sophomore CD Train 64, which was released in October 2005, was heavily promoted through a successful coast-to-coast performance tour with his full band. Highlights of the tour were two sold-out nights at Toronto’s Hugh’s Room and a full page Arts cover story in The Toronto Star. Stops included Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. This relentless touring achieved phenomenal sales chart success for this indie artist. According to Nielsen SoundScan Charts – the official sales charts in Canada, Dr. Draw climbed the SoundScan charts.
• 37 on SoundScan for Toronto city sales chart on August 3, 2006
• 2 on SoundScan for Toronto city sales chart on August 10, 2006
• 100 SoundScan national chart on August 10, 2006
• 4 SoundScan for Edmonton city sales on August 17, 2006, while his five-year-old album The City reached 11 in the same week
• 30 SoundScan for Calgary city sales on August 24, 2006.
His first CD ‘The City’ sold over 10,000 copies and is still selling across the country. His second CD ‘Train 64’ is named after the Via Rail route traveled on, by Eugene, after relocating to the burgeoning Montreal music scene from Toronto. Many hours of solitude has allowed this brilliant young musician to create inspired compositions beyond his 25 years. The CD includes a genre blending mix of Classical, Rock & Roll, Russian Folk, Electronica, and Blues. Along with nine original compositions he also covers the classic Danny Boy and does a Requiem for the 20st century. Guitar, electric harp, bass, keyboards, and drums back up Dr. Draw in an extraordinary band. ‘The City’ included the reworking of the classic Ave Maria (Pulse) that gained radio airplay at mainstream stations like CHFI to CBC Radio.
When Dr.Draw was still busking for a living, people working in the office towers nearby often called the joyful musician “doctor.” He had the ability to cure the common blues and uplift the spirits of even the most cynical passer-by. If positive energy has been a consistent element of Dr. Draw’s career, then genre bending is certainly another trademark. In fact, his renditions of classical masterpieces as well as his original compositions defy singular classification. Is it “Beethoven with beats” as one critic described Dr. Draw’s music or are the sounds more at home in a downtown lounge with a dry martini in hand? Perhaps the better question is who cares when it sounds this good, this seductive, this satisfying?
Unfettered by music’s traditional boundaries, Dr. Draw and his talented band pull together an organic blend of instruments that satisfies eclectic audiences. Added to Dr. Draw’s violin strings are the instruments of his musical collective: an award-winning guitarist, electronic keyboard specialist, electric harpist, rock bassist and drummer. At a recent performance in Boston, a writer for Newsweekly reported that “a young violinist - an attractive guy who goes by the moniker Dr. Draw - stole the show with his infectious performance of high energy, piping out a mix of classical and house musical sounds from his electric violin. The show allegedly literally brought some to tears.” Citing such diverse influences at Chopin, Charles Mingus, David Bowie and Pink Floyd, Dr. Draw comes by his unique musical masala honestly. When various traditional melodies from around the world are added to the mix, it becomes easier to find both something familiar in his music and at the same time be intrigued by what is unusual and novel. Elements of African percussion, Indian ragas, North American folk music and reggae all find their place here and there throughout Dr. Draw’s compositions.
Born in Moscow to a family immersed in classical music, the young boy learned the power and drama of performance from his ballerina mother. He practiced his beloved violin sometimes up to six hours a day, hardly willing to stop for breaks. When Eugene’s parents moved to Canada, he was enrolled at the prestigious Royal Conservatory of Music. Ultimately constrained by the school’s formal approach to music, Eugene left the institution in favour of the street where he was free to improvise and experiment. Brandishing his beloved violin and an unlimited imagination, the teenager threw himself into his music like never before. With a marked passion and unmistakable gift, Dr. Draw’s performances drew growing audiences and he was soon “discovered” by Canada’s largest newspaper that enthusiastically declared him one of the country’s most promising young performers. Draw has been based the last three years in Montreal as part of that city’s burgeoning music scene.
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