A few years ago Joël Fafard was looking at getting out of the music business, with his eyes on one last album.
“I just played it as if I was never going to sell a copy and just quit when I finished it, but because I put my heart into it the album kind of took off on its own and I just followed it. I would have been a fool not to,” Fafard said.
He is now coming off the release of his latest album, Fowl Mood, released Jan. 21.
“I learned that lesson a long time ago to follow my heart. I think the first couple of records I made I was in my mind thinking ‘how am I going to sell this’ before I even made it. I think that hurt those records,” Fafard said.
The album he thought was going to be his last wasn’t the end of his career, in fact it changed his entire music-making process.
“That’s the way I look at every record now. What do you want to do? What’s next?” Fafard said.
Fowl Mood looks to take on more traditional tones, however simplicity in music is a bit of an illusion according to Fafard.
“I think a lot of songwriters will tell you that the simpler the song the harder it is to get there,” Fafard said.
Fowl Mood is his eighth album, which Fafard describes as bluesy with a few “country-feeling” tunes,
He has made his way through many genres in his musical career. Starting out with a world-beat folk sound on his first album, Fafard took a turn into rock n’ roll, followed by the release of three acoustic-based instrumental albums.
He was exposed to many different influences growing up, something Fafard has channeled through his genre-spanning releases.
“I grew up at folk festivals, so I was hearing all the different acoustic genres and I was pretty keen on all of them. The one constant that’s always been there though is blues music.”
With each album there was always a hint of blues, Fafard said.
“(Fowl Mood) you could call that a blues album too, but it’s pretty different from what people think of as traditional blues. There’s so many kinds of blues that people can get lost trying to nail down a genre or sound.”
He takes from the entire history of the genre, and the song writing specifically speaks to Fafard.
Fafard visits the Dream Café on Feb. 19. Tickets are $20 and available by calling 250-490-9012.
