Joe’s musical education came from stealing songs and stories from the many road-worn acts that, week after week, rolled through the local beer joint his family ran in northern Ontario. Every night he'd fall asleep to the sound of country music filtering up through the floorboards and every morning a new Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash or Creedence Clearwater Revival tune would be stuck in his head. It's bound to have an effect on a kid. His first appearance was at his parent's hotel, at age 12, filling in for the hired act who was too drunk to play. The people ate it up - plus it paid 25 bucks and all the soda he could handle. Joe was hooked. He soon found himself making good money playing traditional and then current (late 70's) country in local bands every weekend and the next 20 years were spent off and on the road. Punk, pop, rockabilly, polka, blues, new country, old country, whatever... he played it all. Sometimes it was guitar, sometimes it was bass or drums. He met his first wife while playing the part of Ringo in a Beatles tribute band! All the while Joe was learning about songs. How to write 'em and to record 'em.
A move in the early part of 2001 to Nova Scotia was, in many ways, the start of Joe Fournier's current career. After having exhausted his creativity and enthusiasm in Ontario, Joe decided that the east coast was where to recharge. Together with his girlfriend, they bought a little shack by the ocean and proceeded to rebuild it into a living/studio space. The idea was to open a cafe and forget about music for a while.
It was while bangin' and sawin' that he started getting ideas for the kind of songs he'd never written before. Songs that drew on his country roots, personal experiences and crazy characters met while gigging and traveling all those years. Soon there was enough material to fill two albums. By January 2002, at age 41, Joe had recorded his first CD and sent it out into the world. In no time flat he was fielding calls from publishers and managers from Nashville to Europe and beyond. Joe received rave reviews for Raw Sugar Shed, released in the summer of 2002. The next 12 months were spent touring around Canada, England and Scandinavia to enthusiastic crowds. He showcased on three stages at the 2003 East Coast Music Awards in Nova Scotia and received MIANS nominations for best songwriter, best male vocalist and best country/roots album. In London he was invited to perform at the famed Borderline with Sarah Harmer and Josh Ritter as part of their Americana festival. Joe also appeared in May at Canada's National Arts Centre where they hosted the Atlantic Scene festival and shared stages throughout the year with the likes of Fred Eaglesmith, Willie P. Bennett, Tom Russell, Robbie Fulks, and Alabama 3 to name a few.
Whiskey Stars came out in Europe in 2003 and Canada/US in 2004. More critical success followed and plans for the cafe once again got put on hold. The single, "Almost Got it Made", was covered by many acts including a blues band, a punk outfit and a swing/gospel group. Joe himself went out on the road to promote the disc as a solo act. After appearing as part of a four piece band for a year, suddenly it really came together. There was space to rant, rave and tell stories. His dynamic acoustic style really came to the forefront and audiences were thrilled. 2005 saw the release of Three Chord MacGyver, a disc that was recorded in Joe's kitchen over three weeks. The idea was to capture the feel of those recent raw solo shows. The CD was released in Europe only and paved the way for another successful tour over there including a spot on Sweden's national TV4. Meanwhile Fournier spent time doing small house concerts and a few outdoor music festivals while working on material for the next recording.
Now Joe's proud to release his best disc yet, Dirt Road Joyride. He plays everything himself including guitars, drums, keyboards, accordion, mandolin and banjo. It covers all the stops from hopped up bluegrass, full out power pop, twangy cajun waltzes, country soul and Rockpile-style rock n' roll. With titles like I Drive A Wreck, Gooned Up, Juanita Dog Walk and Bigger Than Actual Size, you just know it's gonna live up to what the Halifax Daily News called Joe's music - a junkyard Bakersfield rant!
Raves for Dirt Road Joyride...
"There needs to be a new sub-category for the Americana genre, something like AmeriCanadiana, a nod to our northern neighbors like Fred Eaglesmith and Joe Fournier. These two embody the rural roots and country rock sensibilities of alt-country as well as anyone on this side of the border. There aren't many singer/songwriters I would mention in the same sentence as Eaglesmith, but Fournier is one of them. Originally from Ontario (like Eaglesmith), Fournier recorded this CD in the “Eight Track Shack” studio he built in Nova Scotia. He plays most of the instruments and mixed it himself. To borrow a phrase from the affable fiddler, Alasdair Fraser, in describing a centuries-old Scottish fiddle tune, Fournier makes music “without all o' the dirt knocked off it.” It's funky, country soul, folk, rock and blues, with stories that will make you laugh, cry and cringe, sometimes all in the same verse. Fournier's off-kilter world view is spelled out in songs about dirt road joyrides, fast cars, rough lives and drunken wedding brawls. There are too many great lyrics to mention more than a few, but a line in “Bad Record Collection” sums up his music. “Baby's got a bad record collection/what she needs is a double injection/of shit kickin', swamp rockin', gut bucket, Springsteen in a bath tub, rock n' roll.” It's not all like that, though. On “She's Still Everywhere,” he strings together a rock melody that would fit right in on a Tom Petty record. If you like great songwriting and music that's slightly cock-eyed with the rough edges intact, put this one on your list." - Barry Dugan, Freight Train Boogie
"Three records into his late-starting career Joe Fournier has refined - if you can actually "refined" for a guy who sings with a voice that is as much a holler as it is singing -- his style. The songs are detailed stories about unfolding events. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking but always rocking. He is very much an America heartland rocker, even if he hails from the Eastern edges of Canada, compiling a collection of songs that are infectious and immediately memorable. Joyously sing along with Joe even while his stories are breaking your heart." - Jeff Weiss, Miles of Music
"This is the sort of music you expect to be delivered with every second or third hand truck, the more beat up the better. Take a rust-bucket, engine-knocking, exhaust blowing, tyre-whining beater, sell with this CD and instantly the prospective driver jams up the volume doesn’t notice the faults, signs on just to get the CD, foolproof. A mixture of John Fogerty and Jim White, underneath the bluster there is a genuine eye for detail and storytelling that doesn’t get in the way of a decent riff. As a calling card ‘The Wreck of Tammy Whelan’ is a slap in the face with a rolled up copy of ‘No Depression’. 'Stone Cold Hearts’ is a sepia toned paean to the golden age of Hank Williams and ‘You’re Still Everywhere’ is Nick Lowe armed with a broken heart and a lyrics as sharp as a broken beer bottle. ‘She’s My Speed’ is the type of thing Tom Petty can’t manage these days. It’s a shame Fournier is hidden away on a Swedish label - he’s powerful enough to make a noise in his homeland." - David Cowling, AmericanaUK
"In the beginning, rock and roll was all about youthful rebellion, exuberantly upsetting its elders and betters. These days, in as far as rock and roll can be discerned in youth music, it's pretty tame stuff - fun sometimes, but not likely to set the world alight. What a joy, then, to find older guys like Joe Fournier can use rock and roll as an entirely appropriate medium for songs that, lyrically, could easily be characterized as folk. Joe writes songs that come straight from life. I've listened to this album with an ear to ear grin, from beginning to end, and I just long to catch Joe at a gig sometime so I can sing along with the chorus of 'Gooned Up': - 'Liquor and wine, wine and liquor/One'll get ya goin', but the other one's quicker/Yeah you end up regretting it everytime/Go-oo-oned up on liquor and wine!'.
It appears Joe's put this record together pretty much by himself, and, if that's true, it's an astonishing achievement. There's a lot of instrumentation in here and it sounds like a hot band having fun. The slide guitar on the Bo Diddley-ish 'Juanita Dog Walk', and again on 'Thumbful', is just ace. There's just so much energy throughout that you could believe the whole thing was recorded live. He's been compared favourably with John Fogerty in the past but, for me, Joe Fournier's much more fun. Listening to him is like a cloud lifting, remembering how exciting rock music can be. He reminds me of all the most soulful rockers I've ever heard - Graham Parker and John Hiatt, to name two - but the way he allies his total rocking commitment to such a sense of fun is all but unique. Brilliant stuff, totally recommended. - John Davy, NetRhythms
“Fournier simply plays American music with soul and sincerity, just a man, his roots and his songs. You’ll find some elements of John Fogerty here, an intonation of Bruce Springteen there a bit of blues and a good dose of Bakersfield everywhere. The songs are very well crafted with melodies that hook you from the start and simple words straight from the heart. There’s also plenty of humour in his songs like “Bad Record Collection” in which Joe complains about his girl and her bad taste when it comes to music. With lyrics like “all that top 10 fluff goes to work on my libido/turns my kingbee to the size of a mosquito/even though she’s standin’ there/dressed in nothin’ but her long blond hair” it’s a killer. I could also quote “Bigger Than Actual Size” which sums up perfectly the Nashville way of making music “it was a Fender champ and a nice Tele / clean as a whistle you could feel it in the belly / the producer frowned, we gotta get that sound / like the truck commercial and the boys uptown / they took a rack of gear, you could hardly hear / that sweet tele twang just disappeared…”. And if he can make you laugh he’s able to make you cry the following minute, just listen to “Sang Like A Bird”. Anyway, I could go on for hours but you just have to know that Joe Fournier is the real deal." - Fred "Virgil" Turgis, Jumpin' From 6 to 6 |
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| Not touring at present |
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