It is not because Francis Cabrel is in a phase of lack of inspiration that he is not working. The French singer-songwriter has just released a new song, is perfecting his skills on his various instruments, is planning his first career American tour with an orchestra and is preparing to sing on three nights in Quebec in June 2024.
Last October, Francis Cabrel released a new piece called “Un Piece de Sicre.” It is a tribute to the city of Toulouse, where he recorded his first record in the 70s, and to a person who did a lot for French and Toulouse songs: Claude Sicre.
Let the inspiration come
This new track could have heralded the release of a new album, but that’s not the case. The singer recently confessed that she is in a “low level of inspiration and wanting to have it.”
“I don’t force nature on me, and since it doesn’t seem to bring me much inspiration at the moment, I let it happen. It will come back eventually. To write songs you have to want them, need them. You must be driven by a strong subject that transports you and prevents you from sleeping. “I’m not in a hurry, I’m letting myself live a little,” he admits.
He now works two hours every day to “get better” at his instruments (piano, guitar, mandolin, a little drums and bass).
“I think there will be an album in the next few years. But I need a project, an idea and a motif. A kind of locomotive that you can hold on to,” says the artist, who will undertake his first small American tour with his orchestra in June 2024 (to San Francisco, LA, Miami and New York).
A look back at 40 years of career
“It wasn’t difficult to convince me to sing under the stars,” says the author of Petite Marie et Sarbacane, who titled his show “Francis Cabrel under the stars,” scheduled for June 16, 2024 at the Agora in Quebec .
“In 1989 I was leaving the Olympia in Paris and Paul Dupont-Hébert – who became my friend – told me: You have to come and meet the Quebecers! My career with you was very solidly built with patience, humility, understanding and appreciation. And then, since I live far away from Paris, in the provinces, and your name is [le Québec] “La Belle Province, it was natural that we got along well,” explains the artist, who was invited to Quebec this summer by the same producer and artist agent friend.
To put together this show, the 69-year-old singer drew on his most recent album, Trobador Tour (released in 2021), as well as the rest of his impressive discography spanning more than four decades.
“That’s all that has happened to me in more than 40 years with the public, I make a small assessment. “We know that it will be a very warm meeting,” explains the artist, who gives himself the freedom every evening to slightly modify his repertoire depending on the wishes and moods of his group.
Francis Cabrel is aware of the recent death of Cowboys Fringants singer Karl Tremblay and admits he has not yet thought about how he will pay tribute to the great man during his visit to Quebec next summer.
“He was so close to people with his language and his way of writing songs, in addition to his naturalness on stage,” says the man to whom Le Journal suggested that he familiarize himself with the play “The Shooting Stars”. , which would be perfect for resuming under the Quebec stars next summer.
– Francis Cabrel under the stars will be presented on June 14 at Francos de Montréal, on June 15 at the Cogeco Amphitheater in Trois-Rivières and on June 16, 2024 at the Agora de Québec.