"Acadian Driftwood" with Zachary Richard - Official Topic

[critias]

notes of the intro reminded me of Brockeback Mountain

 

Like it. Beginning is very good. Then I felt the song didn't go anywhere however.

But it suits her voice. Retained, laid back, no belting pipes.

 

She definitely should record a country-ish/pop album à la Shania Twain / Carrie Underwood / Taylor Swift. Maybe she would regain some popularity in the USA with this kind of music. But then she would need a team of relevant Nashville songwriters/producers to be taken seriously.

[celine5-5]

honestly, it's not my favorite thing she's ever recorded. it's very bland.

[Shesings2me]

I haven't been on here in awhile, so I am so happy that my Celine friends take care of me. Thanks to my sweet Jennifer for sending me the MP3; love you, lovely woman!

 

This song is soooooo good, so catchy, so deep, so spiritual...I love it very, very much. There are not many songs that I would set on repeat, but this one definitely has that status. I can't get enough!! I was missing Celine a lot and this filled the void somewhat. Ah!

[Davey84]

I played this song for my b-friend and my parents and they didn't even realise at first it was céline! my parents love country... and they really loved this country sound of céline!

[Nando Férri]

notes of the intro reminded me of Brockeback Mountain

Exactly the same with me!

[Frozen_Phoenix]

I don't like Country and I really don't like this song.

I hope it will stay an experiment ;-)

Celine Dion is no Taylor Swift and hopefully will never become one.

[Thecolourofmylove]

LOVE this song!!!

[idroveallnight]

This song is very different and unique. I think it's a tune to sing around a campfire (especially for Canadians). All in all, yet another duet that can join the playlist for a future duets album.

[fred]

Omg I read the info on Celine's website today and thought it was April Fools'... are you sure it's not? It's suspicious they released the info TODAY

 

 

Is Celine's website really that hip to even do an April Fools? LOL

 

Is April Fools Day an American day or is it observed other places? Just curious...

 

Have they done something in the past to make you think this was a joke? I can't remember if they have or not...

There's only in the US where there's a need for a special day for fools.

 

/fred

 

FRED!! you're still alive!!!

Of course, little fool.

 

This song is quite nice. The absence of the A New Day era squeaking and the Taking Chances tour yelling is very welcome. I love when she performs like this, just as with the At Seventeen performence, it feels honest. And the technique she uses while singing in French is very present here yet in English, that is also very welcome.

 

Time for a mature album, laying all those "hip" pop tunes that never were hip never had a chanse to be hip to the side? More of That's Just The Woman In Me, Acadian Driftwood and At Seventeen? Yes please.

 

/fred

[canadachick]

Has anyone been able to download it? I love it

[Thecolourofmylove]

Where is the HQ? The album is out in Canada...

[Peppercorn1991]

Does anybody think zacary will relese this song as a single? I mean im sure it would help him with salas with celine in it lol

[CSCfan]

Rocking out with Céline

 

zachary richard's new album features a brilliant duet with the Québécois songbird of Acadian Driftwood

 

By BRENDAN KELLY, The GazetteApril 13, 2009

 

Ibumped into singer-songwriter and radio host Jim Corcoran at the launch party for Zachary Richard's Last Kiss Thursday evening at the Savoy club and we were talking about how we both did a bit of a double-take when we saw Céline Dion's name on the album credits. Let's just be polite and say it's not the most obvious concept to think of notre Céline nationale in a duet with rootsy Cajun auteur-compositeur Richard.

 

But you know what? Their version of Acadian Driftwood, the classic Robbie Robertson song about the Acadian people's forced exile down south to Richard's neck of the woods in Louisiana, is brilliant and deeply moving. By the time it climaxes with the two oh-so-different singers belting out the couplet "J'arrive, Acadie/J'ai le mal du pays," it's impossible not to be touched by the performance.

 

In a chat in his absurdly cramped dressing room Thursday - just before he took the stage for a passionate, but short unplugged set - Richard talked of how he hooked up with the superstar Québécoise songbird. Late last summer, Richard - who splits his time between his homes in Montreal and Louisiana - thought he had wrapped the album, his first English CD in 17 years, but then Dion changed his plans.

 

"I thought (the album) was over until August of last year when I sang with Céline on the Plaines d'Abraham, and inspired by the passion of the moment, I asked her if she wanted to do something and she said, 'yeah,' and that turned into another three months of work. I knew the girl had great pipes and she had a lot of soul, but I didn't know how she would do in my world, a more roots (world). We did this tune (at Dion's show on the Plains of Abraham) called La promesse cassée, which is something I wrote about Katrina, and then I understood that not only could she come in my world and be comfortable, but she could also rock in that style.

 

"Then I was knocking around, (wondering) what we could do. I mean my record was finished. And I've been playing Acadian Driftwood for at least 20 years, at the house, on the piano. I'm the biggest Robbie Robertson fan of all time. That song, which means a lot to me, being of Acadian heritage, is also about the possibility of creating a message of compassion and courage and forgiveness, which is, I think, at the heart of the Acadian story."

 

Last Kiss is Richard's first album in the language of Dylan since Snake Bite Love in 1992. In the years since then, Richard re-introduced himself to francophone fans on both sides of the Atlantic with a series of popular, critically acclaimed albums en français.

 

But as Richard was quick to point out during our conversation, he has always moved between the two languages in his oeuvre. His first album, High Time, was recorded for Electra Records in the early '70s, though it was a victim of record-company politics and only saw the light of day in 2000. That setback was part of the reason Richard segued into the franco world, recording seven albums in French in the late 1970s and '80s, a run that turned him into a well-known figure in both Quebec and France.

 

During his set at the Savoy Thursday, Richard showcased that bilingual/bicultural heritage by talking on stage mostly en français, singing the English songs from Last Kiss, and trying to explain his mixed roots to this mostly franco crowd.

 

"For the language-challenged, now I'm going to talk in that other language," he said, in English, adding: "I know it's sensitive, but part of me is proud to be American, particularly since November," a reference to the election of Barack Obama.

 

"There are kids in Manitoba who call themselves bilinguals," said Richard, in our chat before the show. "Not bilingual as an adjective, but bilingual as a noun. It's a mark of identity I understand really well coming from Louisiana and being able to navigate with a great deal of ease between the two languages.

 

"Here in Quebec, the first question I get is: 'Why an English record?' And I'm going - 'It's more surprising that I sing in French.' After all, I am an American and I come from Louisiana.

 

"It's never been a conscious decision. Through this fog will come a sound and I'll jump on that sound like a falcon on a pigeon - I'm going to get that thing. But that sound is

 

already in a language. It already sounds like a word in one of the two languages I speak. So I don't choose. There's no volition on my part."

 

© Copyright © The Montreal Gazette

 

[Davey84]

cool!! thanks!!

[Peppercorn1991]

Thanks, well maybe the song will be reliced as a single

[CSCfan]

A Cajun Boy Comes Home

Zachary Richard hits FIL stage, new record in hand.

 

By Walter Pierce

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

 

Sit down with singer-songwriter Zachary Richard for a Q & A and it’s a little bit of Q and a whole lot of A. The dude can talk. An idle ice-breaker about his house prompts a 10-minute dissertation on traditional Cajun architecture, and on the pitfalls of hiring carpenters who stray from the floor plan. Richard and his father built the house almost 30 years ago on a strip of land that was once outside Scott, but is now within the taxable boundaries thanks to annexation. His dad hired out-of-work carpenters to save money. “There’s a reason why they were unemployed,” Richard observes with a chuckle. The house — bare wood and pure Cajun from the pitch of the roof to the wide front porch — is settling in ways that unsettle its owner.

 

When Richard performs at Festival International de Louisiane this weekend before a hometown crowd, it will be his first big concert in support of his new record, Last Kiss. The dozen songs carry Richard’s lonesome tenor over familiar musical and emotional terrain. “I’m just glad when I can write a song that I like,” he says, “There’s a very strong tendency toward melancholy in my writing. I don’t know why that is. I don’t consider myself to be a depressed person necessarily. Maybe I have this Romantic notion of life.”

 

What will perhaps be most talked about is his duet with Celine Dion on the record’s final track, a Robbie Robertson song titled, “Acadian Driftwood,” about the 18th-century expulsion of the Acadians from Canada. But this is not the pop diva, she of the bombastic ballads, making a cameo on Last Kiss; it’s a French-Canadian vocalist with some serious chops. “Acadian Driftwood” reveals a much different Celine Dion. “It’s in a key that’s very low for her,” Richard says, “which allows her to get into a part of her voice, her vocal range, that nobody knows exists ... A lot of people have asked me, ‘Who is that?’ you know? I say, ‘Celine Dion,’ they go, ‘man.’”

 

But having an international superstar on your record is complicated. “It doesn’t pose a problem to me, but it’s a marketing problem to have Celine Dion on your record,” Richard confesses. “But what I tell people is, this is not a Celine Dion record, this a Zachary Richard record and she’s coming into my world, I’m not going into hers. This is not about putting Celine Dion on my record. This about having a great singer who’s also my friend participate in a recording project, which means something to both of us and we had fun doing. And I think when people hear this they’ll be surprised about what it is that she does, but I mean the girl can sing and she has a tremendous amount of soul.”

 

What is most striking about Last Kiss is the almost total absence of the French language. One song is in French, along with a sliver of the chorus in “Acadian Driftwood.” It is a departure for a musician who has buttered his bread musically in the language of his ancestors. “This record being in English is going to allow me to redevelop my relationship with an American audience, hopefully,” Richard says, betraying doubt in the willingness of an American audience — a Louisiana audience, for that matter — to embrace him. His doubts are not unfounded; while Zachary Richard has enjoyed multi-platinum success in Canada and France — he is a household name in Quebec — his career in the United States has been spotty. He recorded his first record in 1972 at age 21 for Elektra. The record was shelved for 18 years and released in 2000 by Rhino. American record labels, as Richard explains it, are about results (sales) now, not artist development. “We were touring, we were doing 150 dates a year, this was in ’92, ’93, ’94,” Richard recalls of his time with a subsidiary of A&M Records, “and I’d go to a place, I’d go to San Francisco, and I couldn’t find my record in any of the stores. So, there was no support, they had just given up on the record.”

 

Last Kiss makes a good first impression. It’s at once lush and spare, and filled with the plaintive longing of a Cajun boy far from home. But the Cajun boy is home. Richard spends about half his time in Acadiana, the other half in Canada. “I have this Cajun son devotion to my mother to make sure that she’s OK,” he explains of his increasing residency in Louisiana. Richard’s father passed away in 2005. His mom is 87.

 

But don’t think you have Zachary Richard figured out. He is a singer-songwriter in the classic mold, but his subject matter has long legs. “A love song in the classic tradition,” Richard writes in the song commentary to “Fire in the Night,” the second track on Last Kiss, “although in this case I imagined the protagonist to be Allen Ginsburg and object of his passion Jack Kerouac.”

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Zachary Richard performs at Festival International de Louisiane at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Scène Fais Do Do.

 

Last Kiss is available now at www.zacharyrichard.com . It will be available widely on its release date, Tuesday, April 28.

 

Another great one..

[Bellamy]

“Acadian Driftwood” reveals a much different Celine Dion. “It’s in a key that’s very low for her,” Richard says, “which allows her to get into a part of her voice, her vocal range, that nobody knows exists ... A lot of people have asked me, ‘Who is that?’ you know? I say, ‘Celine Dion,’ they go, ‘man.’”

I love this quote.

[Koolan]

Nice read. Thanks!

[Davey84]

But having an international superstar on your record is complicated. “It doesn’t pose a problem to me, but it’s a marketing problem to have Celine Dion on your record,” Richard confesses. “But what I tell people is, this is not a Celine Dion record, this a Zachary Richard record and she’s coming into my world, I’m not going into hers. This is not about putting Celine Dion on my record. This about having a great singer who’s also my friend participate in a recording project, which means something to both of us and we had fun doing. And I think when people hear this they’ll be surprised about what it is that she does, but I mean the girl can sing and she has a tremendous amount of soul.

 

this really pisses me off! like all céline has ever done are BALLADS damnit!! why does she has such a bad name?!? I really blame the bad single choices!! She should have came to the Junos this year and sang That's just the woman in me' or This Time! They should work harder to promote the fact that Céline never is and never was just a ballad singer

[Edwin]

And yet this album will be bought by many more people BECAUSE it has a track with Celine on it

[Davey84]

yeah that's the plus side, but I hate it that most of the time 'Celine Dion' has a negative connotiation to it!

[takeachance]

But having an international superstar on your record is complicated. “It doesn’t pose a problem to me, but it’s a marketing problem to have Celine Dion on your record,” Richard confesses. “But what I tell people is, this is not a Celine Dion record, this a Zachary Richard record and she’s coming into my world, I’m not going into hers. This is not about putting Celine Dion on my record. This about having a great singer who’s also my friend participate in a recording project, which means something to both of us and we had fun doing. And I think when people hear this they’ll be surprised about what it is that she does, but I mean the girl can sing and she has a tremendous amount of soul.

 

this really pisses me off! like all céline has ever done are BALLADS damnit!! why does she has such a bad name?!? I really blame the bad single choices!! She should have came to the Junos this year and sang That's just the woman in me' or This Time! They should work harder to promote the fact that Céline never is and never was just a ballad singer

 

Yes I agree and I think "Shadow of Love " or "Fade Away" or "Eyes on me" would have been amazing summer hits and suprised everyone if only things had been done differently, yet all Celine is still remembered for mostly is "my heart will go on" Annoying

[Thecolourofmylove]

Where is the HQ?? Please??

[Krys]

hmm i like the song. its a change from what Celine always sings. a nice change

[Selina286]

thanks, i love this song!

[thesupernova]

I've listened to this lots now...and it's grown on me, I must admit at first I was unsure but now I love it! Catchy too! I like how Celine does sound much more relaxed and free....I like the imperfections we can hear. She has such emotion in her voice.

 

Where can I download the mp3 from??? I tried searching but I couldn't seem to find where! can someone help moi????

 

i know you posted this a while ago...but were you able to get the mp3? i have 2 versions....celine pretty much by herself and then the regular version....let me know if you want either, i can email them to you.....that goes for anyone who wants either or both versions....more than happy to spread the celine cheer!

[reamary]

I love the song! Especially now that I read the lyrics, it has even more meaning. It's pretty sad what happened there in the 18th century and how the Acadians were forced to leave their homes in Canada and go to USA.. So I think that for that, especially the ending of the song "J'arrive Acadie, j'ai le mal du pays" etc is very beautiful.

[sayyed]

bought it at iTunes Germany.... sounds very good in HQ. :wub:

[cannonball]

it's up on US itunes now too!

[Je T'aime Encore]

I like it. It's different. Has the cowgirl in here...haha...