Luc Normand: News

I've had a little secret I've held close to my chest for quite a while and the timing's just right to let the cat out of the bag...

I have a new band called Lone Brethren and we're heading into the studio in a couple weeks to record some brand new tunes as well as a few fans will be familiar with.

So what does this have to do with the Senators?

Well, they need a little help this year so we thought we'd give them a little inspiration in the form of a song:

(You'll never get) My Puck

It's all yours to download and send to all your friends. If you love it, tell everyone about it! If you know someone in the Sens organization... send it to them. If you know someone who works for the CBC, zap it over. If you think it'll help our boys, forward this eMail to someone over at the Team 1200... Help out your Sens and Ottawa's newest Rock Band all in one!

If you're a Facebook-a-holic, we're on there too...

Lone Brethren's Facebook Page

The weather's changing and the timing's perfect for something new in your MP3 player... Check out the site and the free downloads and, in the meantime...

GO SENS GO!!!

I've tried to figure out why or how Derek Sivers (CD Baby creator) gives so much of himself and finally chalked it up to "He's just that kind of guy." And then I thought of all the people that work for CD Baby and HostBaby and just how hard-working, caring and genuinely nice they all are; and that kinda solidified my view of the whole company.

All that to say, I have a tremendous amount of respect for them and I owe them a debt of gratitude. They run a wonderful company that cares for its people, its clients and the tens of thousands of music lovers that stop by every day to perhaps discover an undiscovered talent.

Less than a year ago, I was among those. Now, I can honestly say that CD Baby has converted a 25 year wannabe into someone doing something worthwhile with his talents. My music has been listened to and bought around the globe; not in staggering quantities, but it's still neat to think I've got fans in Australia or Germany and a growing fan base in North America. There's no doubt this never would have happened without CD Baby.

But it means even more when I stop and think of my Father who was a brilliant visual artist (sketches, paintings, etc.). He never did anything with it. As kids, and even young adults, we could never understand why. Then one day, his apartment building burned down and his entire art collection went with it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is a big thank-you on behalf of my three little children who will never have to wonder why their Daddy didn't even try.

I've done it, and CD Baby has opened the eyes and ears of the world to it. To all the staff at CD Baby and HostBaby, Thank-You.

Luc

For years now I've read Derek Dunn in various local newspapers. He is a brilliant writer, a devoted father/husband, and a guy who really knows where his canoe's at, you know?

Imagine my surprise when I received an eMail from him asking if he could run a profile on me and would I be so kind to meet him in a park somewhere so he could snap a few photos in a Roots Musician kind of setting (see what I mean, he thinks of everything).

I'm having a bit of fun with this but he'll never know just how honoured I was to have him take time to dig into my life. Then, to read the article and what he thought of my music was just the icing on the cake.

We didn't talk about movies that day, so the fact that he mentions one of my tunes "could have appeared in a John Hughes movie" blew me away, considering Ferris Bueller's Day Off is in my Top 10 favourite movies of all time (though I doubt that was the movie he had in mind when he said that).

Read the full article here.

AOL Music
Sympatico Music Store
Aliant Music Store

There are so many planets that must align to ensure the show you're presenting has the desired effect you're after. In theatre, it all starts with the script, the interpretation of that script, and, of course, the casting.

For Let It Land Theatre's production of Jewel, there's no doubt the script, written by Joan MacLeod, was solid. Her study of the human spirit in isolated turmoil is strong, clear and, most importantly, entirely believable.

The producer and director of the play stayed true to the script which, as a songwriter, I appreciate. There are certain works I wouldn't mind having someone add their own flavour to, but others speak too well on their own that I feel they should be interpreted as precisely as possible, because adding one's 'stamp' often waters down the message and pays a disservice to the creator. In that same vein, it certainly seemed to me that Director Maureen Smith showed she had the wisdom to present a beautifully written story in the only way it could be told. As is.

Now, before I get to the casting, I should mention that there are several other sub-factors that can impact a performance both positively and negatively. These are time and space. Time can be your friend and your foe. So too can space. In the case of Jewel, time was tight and so was the space. And that's where the casting comes into play (pardon the pun). Selecting the right actors, or in the case of this one-person play, actor, can make these sub-factors disappear.

Chantale Plante couldn't have surprised me more. She took the script, the space and the time and used every word, every inch, every moment to draw us into the heart wrenching world of Marjorie. Every so often I would be snapped back to the here and now by hearing my own voice (which was weird) as the radio announcer, but before long I was back in that tiny cabin in northern Alberta, wincing and reeling at every downward turn she took. Brilliant, really.

Clearly, Chantale deserves far more time and a far bigger stage. She is undeniably capable of handling both. At least for now she's got the comfort of having a production company that knows how to select, direct and manage plays. Not a bad place to be.

I feel very privileged to have been involved in this production and shall look back on the entire experience fondly.

Wow! Once again, thanks! Not so long ago (November '06 to be exact) I hit the 1,000 visits per month. I wasn't sure what kind of meaningful milestone it was, and frankly, I'm not sure how meaningful this one is (maybe when I'm selling 100 CDs a day *wink*) but it's still neat to see all the visits (from 51 different countries this month alone).

Come on in and stay a while!

Seems I'll be involved in Ottawa's Fringe Festival... but not as a songwriter. An accomplished actress friend, Chantale Plante, who had heard my music (and liked my voice... blush) asked if I would do some voice overs for a new play, called Jewel, she is preparing for this coming June's festival. I accepted, produced a demo tape, and got very promising initial feedback.

It's quite exciting considering Chantale has enjoyed increasing success in Ottawa's various theatrical venues. More news as it comes!

Click the image to check out my new digs (I'm still keeping this site though). While you're there, have a listen to a full-length live recording of The Easter Bunny Song and whatever other tunes I've had time to upload... Cheers!

Go to the Music page and click on the OUCH image...

The Barenaked Ladies, Feist, Sam Roberts, Sloan, Broken Social Scene, Billy Talent, Sarah McLachlan, Avril Lavigne, and a host of other Canadian Artists have taken up the daunting task of teaching our government and the music industry how to treat you, our fans.

The CMCC are out to let you, and federal regulators know that record companies and music publishers are not representing the artists who create that music in the first place.

Those who know me personally, know that I have struggled for some time with regard to the subject of free downloads, file sharing, P2P and all the rest. I've read countless articles, position papers, white papers and blogs on the subject. I've spoken to you individually. I've spoken to people who stretch the definition of responsible file sharing. It's gotten to the point that I'm now being unofficially named "The MP3 Police" at the office (though that is not at all what I set out to accomplish). All this to say, I've had opinions and, like most people, the more I discussed the issue and the more I informed myself of different viewpoints, the more I honed in on what would ultimately become my belief.

Thankfully, I don't have to find the words to express them. The CMCC has done it for me. Find out more...

Note: I was led to the Steve Jobs article (below) via the CMCC site.

Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple, recently gave us his take on the future of digital music. He tells us he feels Digital Rights Management (DRM), or 'digital locks' on MP3s should go the way of the dinosaur. Coming from the man who brought us the Mac (the world's #1 computer for artists of all stripes), the iPod (the world's most popular music player) and iTunes (which has sold over 20 billion DRM-wrapped songs), perhaps the world (and record companies) should listen. I certainly did.

Click image to enlarge

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Click to find out about this amazing little company that's tearing up the entertainment industry by allowing the creators of the music (that's me) keep the lion's share of the proceeds of sales.

It's actually quite an inspiring story... Check it out.

My incredible run has ended! But what a ride it was! 15 weeks on Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter Guy Michetti's "Weekly Spotlight on Folk Music" (at the now defunct MixPosure music site). I was truly honoured to have been noticed by such an accomplished artist, but 15 weeks? Wow!

I received a message out of the blue one day just before Christmas. It simply said "When I get everything I need prepared to begin filming a docu-drama about ****** here, would you do the honour of scoring the soundtrack for me?"

This was a request from Independent Ottawa Filmmaker, James Lumsden. Of course, I accepted. Filming is set to start in April, 2007.

The FINAL version of OUCH has shipped out!!! It is on its way to my distribution company. Expect news soon to say it's available on-line!!!

Thanks! I'm not sure what kind of meaningful milestone this is (considering I don't sell advertising space on my site) but it's still neat to see the visits (from over 34 different countries around the globe) are steadily climbing.

A huge thanks goes to Google who do their part in keeping the insane world of the web under control. There are increased hit statistics via Google's high-power search engines every day. Can you tell I'd just love to give all the people who work at Google a really big hug?

Alright... I know... back to the studio!