Damien Robitaille, hugely popular in the UK with his cover videos produced since the pandemic, is today releasing two original Christmas songs, including one in English. Christmas again, intended, among other things, for its new foreign fans. “I wanted to give them something. They often ask me when I’m going to play there,” he says.
Since 2020, Damien Robitaille has uploaded more than 325 musical cover videos on social networks. Some went viral and won him admirers around the world. With this new English-speaking audience in mind, the songwriter wrote “Noel, Once Again.”
“I’m trying to create a new Irving Berlin classic,” he says of the piece, which he says has “a little Beatlesque feel.” “It’s like a play on words. In English there is “The First Noel”. I started singing a melody. The song has a small bilingual side. I use French words that English speakers understand.”
A third Christmas tour
In addition to this title, Damien Robitaille is releasing the festive My Christmas Star. He wrote this piece this summer – “in the middle of a heat wave!” – to add even more momentum to his holiday tour, it’s almost Christmas, returning for a third time starting November 24th.
“I had already made my classic Christmas album. I told myself I could do something different. With the poinsettia I found a universal motif.”
These two new songs will be featured in his Christmas show, which he will perform around fifteen times across Quebec until December 22nd. A press release stated that this would be his last Christmas tour.
“Actually, you never know. I thought that was it last year! But people still ask me, so why not? There were many areas I had not yet visited. We hadn’t done Lac-Saint-Jean, Beauce, Ottawa.”
In addition to Christmas pieces and his own songs, which he has rearranged to suit the Christmas season, Damien Robitaille has a good “one-man band” segment that makes a direct connection to the videos he has been making for three years.
“The public always reacts very strongly at this moment,” he said. For example, I do “Pump Up the Jam,” “Led Zeppelin,” “The Beatles,” and “What Is Love.” There’s never a dull moment on the show!”
Open doors abroad
Damien Robitaille knows very well that he could present this cover format abroad. “There’s no doubt. People expect that. Eventually [sur les réseaux sociaux]I asked people where I should go when I toured the UK [Royaume-Uni]. I got at least 500 responses.”
“That’s why I want to target a new English-speaking market to open the doors,” he adds, pointing out that concerts abroad are not yet planned.
This winter, Damien Robitaille will be working on new songs with the aim of releasing a new album sometime in 2024.
We can also see him as a Texan cowboy in the second season of the series Paris Paris, broadcast on UnisTV. “Last spring I spent two weeks in Hamilton filming this. I act with experienced actors [dont Maxim Roy]. It’s an incredible opportunity.”
- Songs My poinsettia And Christmas again are available on all platforms. Damien Robitaille will begin his tour Christmas is coming soon starting November 24th in Shawinigan. He will be at the Montreal Casino (December 19-20) and the Grand Théâtre de Québec (December 22).