Richard Séguin

Known by the moniker "Bob Dylan du Quebec," singer/songwriter Richard Séguin led the shift of French-Canadian folk music toward rock & roll. He entered the world in Montreal on March 27, 1952, and launched his professional path in tandem with twin sister Marie-Claire under the name Les Nochers. From the start his melodies drew upon folk and blues traditions, while his richly imagistic lyrics remained grounded in present-day awareness. The siblings appeared as Marie et Richard beginning in 1967. Two years afterward they enlisted guitarist Robert Letendre, bassist Andre Brault, pianist Norman Théroux, and drummer Denis Chénier to establish the forward-looking psych-folk ensemble La Nouvelle Frontière, which issued two LPs on the Gamma label. Once the band dissolved after 1970's L'Hymne aux Quenouilles, Richard and Marie-Claire rejoined forces as Les Séguin, producing four well-regarded LPs before each pursued a solo route in 1977. Richard unveiled his solo work that year at the Ontario Festival, then toured Switzerland and Quebec. He next partnered with Harmonium guitarist Serge Fiori on Deux Cents Nuits à l'Heure, an album that surpassed 100,000 copies sold and captured three Félix Awards. Séguin's self-titled solo debut arrived in 1979 and was followed a year later by Trace en Contraste. Double Vie did not reach stores until 1985. Though its decisive break from earlier folk material distanced some listeners, its wholehearted turn to straight-ahead rock enlarged his audience sharply; the album stayed on the Quebecois charts for more than 50 weeks and earned the Félix for best rock album. The 1988 successor Journée d'Amérique received the same distinction, and in 1989 the Séguin composition "Ici Comme Ailleurs" prevailed in the CBC's "Notre Chanson" competition. Aux Portes du Matin, released in 1991, was promoted by his broadest tour to date—a 150-date journey that produced the 1993 live LP Vagabondage. Yet after 1995's D'Instinct, Séguin declared an extended hiatus from recording and performing, and the next release, Microclimat, required five years to complete. A further six-year gap preceded Lettres Ouvertes, which debuted at the top of the Quebecois charts.