Louis-Jean Cormier

As the singer/guitarist for Montreal quartet Karkwa, Louis-Jean Cormier helped dismantle the barriers between Canada’s English and French indie-rock scenes, after his group became the first francophone act to win the Polaris Music Prize in 2010. But since that band hit pause in 2012, Cormier (born in 1980 in Sept-Îles) has become an even more towering figure in Québécois alternative music, both as a Juno Award-winning solo act and as a producer/mentor to other artists. Beginning with his celebrated debut album, Le treizième étage, Cormier has forged an aesthetic that’s both earthy and elaborate, fusing elements of folk, jazz and art rock into carnivalesque anthems underpinned by his emotionally resonant storytelling. And those qualities have filtered down to a new generation of Québécois mavericks, through his collaborations with singer/songwriters like Beyries and Marie-Pierre Arthur. Cormier’s unique standing in La Belle Province can be best summed up like so: he’s certainly the only artist who’s both served as a judge on Quebec’s answer to The Voice (La Voix) and also collaborated on a prog-rock circus spectacle (Seul ensemble) with Serge Fiori of ‘70s freak-folk legends Harmonium.