Before reconnecting with the repertoire of Renée Martel and performing a Christmas show, Paul Daraîche stops at the Montreal Casino to pay tribute to the Quebec queen of the western: his sister Julie.
He has barely sat down in the café in Terrebonne where we are meeting when Paul Daraîche takes a call. He settles the matter in a few words – “I get requests like that all the time,” he says – before explaining that he is in an interview and hanging up. “I’m not a wedding singer,” he then says, letting out a laugh, “I’m a funeral singer!” »
The old cowboy is not insulted for the fact that he is called so often to mark the departure of a loved one. He knows that some of his songs like To my mother And To the other side of the world go well in these circumstances and he understands the importance of the moment very well. And he accepts when it is possible for him. Most often by sending a video where he performs the requested song.
Paul Daraîche knows this: in recent years, he has lost two brothers (one of them even died the day after the funeral of the other…), his great friend Renée Martel and his sister Julie Daraîche.
He also pays tribute to these two women in shows that he is performing again this fall: Paul and guests, against all odds And Julie Daraîche – Country Dynasty.
Paying tribute to his sister was “very important,” he said. “My sister was the queen of the western,” he says, making a distinction between this root of country music and its more folk, more rock or more pop variations. “And Julie was the biggest record seller in Quebec. Country audiences know her, but the general public doesn’t. I wanted to restore its nobility. »
A family matter
Music is in any case a family affair for the Daraîches: three of Paul’s four children – Dany, Katia and Émilie – are also singers and musicians. “It’s fun, because we’re always together,” he says. Otherwise, we would always be separated because I’m never there. »
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Paul Daraîche and his daughter Émilie, who also plays music
“I experienced it with my first marriage,” continues the artist, who has contributed to dozens of country albums over more than 50 years, from Marcel Martel to his daughter Renée, including Paul Brunelle and Lévis Boulianne.
I experienced it with my first marriage and it crashed because of that, because I’m never home. When I remarried, I told myself that I was going to take my children with me. They have followed me since birth.
Paul Daraiche
For decades, Paul Daraîche has toured the province’s country festivals. Until Mario Pelchat made him record an album of duets entitled My loves, my friends (2012), which was very successful. “To my great happiness, I went on the theater circuit,” he says. Now I sing in front of sober people who listen to me. It’s not the same everywhere! »
And he is taking advantage of it: this fall, in addition to shows in tribute to his sister Julie and Renée Martel whom he loved like a sister, he will also present starting November 24 Christmas, a tradition in song, a show in which Marie Carmen and Marie Denise Pelletier participate, among others. Three shows, with three different groups of performers, that’s no small feat. “It’s hell,” confirms Paul Daraîche, “but I like it! »
Julie Daraîche-Dynastie Country, Thursday, 8 p.m., at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal and October 14 at the Théâtre Capitole de Québec
A second album for Émilie Daraîche
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
Émilie Daraîche.
Like her brothers and sister, Émilie Daraîche followed her father on the road throughout her childhood. Without dreaming of going on stage. “I didn’t want to sing,” she said, “I was too embarrassed. » She finally broke the ice around 16, singing a duet with her father for a television show. She has been singing ever since. With her father, but also solo since she has two albums to her name, including the most recent, Elsewhere, was published at the end of summer. “I’m not country like the family,” explains the young woman who dreamed of being a police officer. I wanted to go towards what I like to listen to, I chose the instruments to have my own color. » Her songs are more folk, sometimes tinged with blues, pop, and almost always delicate. “It’s very ballad,” agrees the singer, whose voice is capable of being fresh and slender or very round. The singer admits to playing her songs to her father when she makes a record. We understand, however, that this is not necessarily to get his opinion. In any case, not to follow him. “I want to know what he thinks about it, for sure, but my idea was really clear for this record. »