*SEEKING PLAYERS IN WEST KOOTENAYS, NELSON AREA. VERSATILE DRUMMER AND MANDOLIN/VIOLIN PLAYER. MAKE CONTACT HERE.
dominique fraissard - 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars, mandolin, sitar.
melissa cox - violins, keys and backing vocals.
matthew hall - bass and backing vocals.
syd green - drums and percussion.
assorted friends and colleagues for sessions on various instruments on albums.
Influences
the old folk rockers + ani difranco, iron and wine, the indigo girls. a constant flow of subliminal influences including turin brakes and, lately, hip hop.
View dominique fraissard's EPK
Sounds Like
love child of cat stephens singing, ani difranco writing and dave matthews band performing.
“…just great, I think you'll be hearing more of him really soon. He just gave me his cd at the Woodford Folk Festival and I really liked it, it really inspired me.”
- John Butler.
"Getting the 'why the hell isn't he huge?' asterisk is Dominique Fraissard. Coming somewhere between the rock of Mick Hart and not as histrionic as iOta can be, Fraissard has voice, songs and a touch of the weird to be really compelling".
- The Drum Media.
"Dominique Fraissard is simply one of the most amazing solo performers on offer. A bit of a male Ani Difranco, Dominique is well on his way to becoming one of Australia's premier songwriters and performers".
- The Drum Media.
“...with rousing concision, where originality and a refreshing elegance took
precedence, was revealed Dominique Fraissard. A quest of alternative guitar tunings and a deep soothing vocal tonality Fraissard strolled the stage painting enchanting stories… here was an addiction that the whole world should indulge in.
- Revolver.
NEW!!! Here's a vid for you from our Tabula Rasa album launch, more to come soon.
A rugged childhood in the mountains of Canada with time on three continents, a hitch-hiker named Sam and the mind of a 7 year old forever bearing the imprint of rich chords flowing from an acoustic guitar. Things don’t always go according to plan, but they do pan out.
Dominique Fraissard started seriously playing guitar late at seventeen. The written word has always served him well and been a powerful outlet, so channeling that into music came as a natural progression. “Everyone has joy and pain but not everyone can articulate it. Music is a language that can bring us to the brink of our senses. The music I listen to moves me so much and lets me know that someone else has been where I've been and feels like I feel and that that's alright. When my art reaches someone that way, in a way that connects my humanity to others- the universality of experience, I feel hopeful”.
Starting 1997 at the Woodford Folk Festival solidified his direction. He played the chalkboard venues there and the audience response, right across the demographic, had him leaving there en route to Sydney to set up and start work. Once there he found his groove quickly, becoming more eclectic in his influences, gigging, learning about the industry and developing an urban transfer in his folk. And an expanding discography; a self titled first release in 1998, and 2001 release Catharsis, both on his own label Drink From the Trees. The momentum never abated and the period to 2004 was filled with constant live performance, tours as far as Melbourne and Cairns and radio and television performances of his own work and collaborative ventures. That first ‘epoch’ culminated in a place in the ‘chrysalis’ emerging artists program at Woodford 2002-’03. There Dominique attended a round table discussion forum chaired by John Butler. So impressed was John that he personally invited Dominique to support him. Returning from a 3 year hiatus, 2007 saw the long anticipated third release, Tabula Rasa.
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To journey musically with dominique fraissard is to know that you are part of something bigger. Unabashed openness about his own human experience joins you with him in story and song. You leave feeling like someone ‘gets’ you and you take courage. Songs tender enough to share over your kitchen table and anthems worthy of a stadium.
His guitar playing and a writing style that is rare in a male artist are Dominique’s trademarks, from traditional folk pieces to more urban grooves. “Folk is my natural genre for its appeal to the deeper parts of me and the range of instruments and raw sounds from around the world; it's the peoples music. The direction and unfathomable future of folk through the troubadors place on a shrinking and intensifying planet, cross genre sound and electronic trickery is enough to keep me frustrated with inspiration. Right from Woody Gutherie, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, to the core folk artists of today, it's about confronting the truth socially, politically and personally and saying that we are much more similar than different”.
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Now residing in Nelson BC Canada where he devides his time between music and the creative arts, Dominique has announced his arrival on the Western Canadian music scene with a summer tour, including a standing ovation performance at the Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival.
Summer 2010 will see the release of a Live Album and EP to lead up to the release of the next full length album, The Question of Canada, ahead of a touring schedule built on the success of 2009.
