Posted at 1:04 am. Updated at 6:00 a.m.
Joe Grass has worked with many artists over the past 20 years, from Lhasa de Sela to Elisapie to Marie-Pierre Arthur and Patrick Watson. The sought-after guitarist has also always pursued a career as a singer-songwriter and on Friday released Falcon’s Heart, an album that draws on both country folk music’s roots and his interest in contemporary textures.
“I really wanted to write simple, non-judgmental songs. Like the old country stuff I love, George Jones, all these dead people my friends don’t care about,” explains Joe Grass with a smile while sitting in a small coffee shop in the heart of Mile End, where he has his studio has.
“But it’s hard to keep it simple,” he adds. There are two parts of me in this project: one wanted to make beautiful, simple and concise songs, and the other wanted to deconstruct, make collages of many worlds, business, electronic, contemporary, classical, more abstract, etc. put that together. »
In fact, for Joe Grass everything is a question of balance: in his work with others, for example, it is about creating “a world” of his own and that of the artist he works with. “There it is I who create a world out of two parts of me. »
But the quest for balance does not necessarily mean striving for perfection. On the other hand.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Joe Grass
It’s fun to leave an unbalanced business couple. Everything in life is out of balance, you just have to walk around the city, the orange cones are everywhere!
Joe Grass
He also leaves a lot of room for improvisation in the studio and for this reason has invited musicians from the free jazz scene to lend their color palette to the album.
That’s actually Joe Grass’ secret, knowing how far to go — because “there’s also a risk of overdoing it” — and staying open to suggestions and the unexpected. In this way he often worked together with his basic trio of fellow musicians: Robbie Kuster on drums, François Lafontaine on keyboards and Mishka Stein on bass.
“For example, Guadalupe, I gave Robbie and François something like ‘Dust in a psychedelic desert and you walk in cowboy boots.’ They got it right away.” What pleases him is that the result doesn’t quite match what he imagined, but rather the creation of a new world that he hadn’t even thought of.
That’s the wonderful thing. It’s adventure. Surprises are more exciting than you imagined. It will always be more interesting when musicians bring their ideas together than just my vision.
Joe Grass
For this poetic and soothing album that evokes life’s unpredictability – “I’ve learned that one must accept certain flaws in security” – Joe Grass also favors a lyric that is a carrier of sensation and emotion rather than to a specific purpose aligned. “It’s more about opening antennae around me and inside me,” he explains, hoping that people who are listening can project themselves there.
“But what I imagined when I was writing the song, what was going on back then, no one needs to know! »
Call
Originally from New Brunswick, Joe Grass came to Montreal to study in the early 2000s. “For the first few summers I was back working at the car wash or at the zoo in Moncton. After starting my solo career I played in bars and met musicians. I started building a community and I told myself it’s still cool. »
In short, he never left and not only built his life and work here, but also built a more than enviable reputation as a studio and stage musician and producer over the years. When it is pointed out to him how much people want to work with him, he blushes a little.
I’ve had the chance to be part of projects that many people have heard about and believe in. I am very grateful for that. Yes, reputation, but at the same time you have to create something new, evolve. We can’t just sit there and work like we’ve always done.
Joe Grass
Joe Grass, of course, hopes to bring Falcon’s Heart to the stage. His solo project, which he has been managing with others since 2005, is just another facet of him, “a different way of approaching songs”. But this new album with “different colors” for him, that’s what he believes in deeply … and of course remains critical, which fits with his really humble attitude.
“There is never a moment where I say to myself: I am 100% convinced that this is my best project. It’s just my newest device and I’ve learned quite a few things in the process. I’m proud of it and can’t wait to play it live, but first the world has to please it! I would be happy if the world would hear it. »
folklore
hawk heart
Joe Grass
Simone Records
Available Friday
Joe Grass as seen by…
Elisapie
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Elisapie Isaac
“I’ve never seen anyone care so much about their instrument. He seems to be a raw, natural musician, but no, he works all the time! We felt musically right on The Ballad of the Runaway Girl, so I’m working with him again. We’re different, I talk a lot, especially when I’m emotional, but he taught me to trust that if we don’t cheat, we’ll get where we need to go. This album changed my life because Joe allowed me to jump up and face my fears. And he’s discreet when he could be that boastful. But never. It’s all about music. »
Patrick Watson
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Patrick Watson
“If Lhasa asked him to play with her back then, it was because of her sensitivity and her ability to listen. Joe played on Close to Paradise and I worked with him a lot. He is extremely talented. I like his way of playing the pedal steel, which is a very country instrument, but he gave it an almost neoclassical sound. He can play anything, banjo, mandolin, any style. He could have been a Nashville session musician, which is a compliment because in Nashville all the musicians play like gods. »
Marie-Pierre Arthur
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Marie-Pierre Arthur
“During my 2009 tour, I called Joe at the last minute to replace my guitarist. And I passed out very stiff! It was until the end and has been there ever since. He looks so calm, but he’s not that calm. He can play rock with a lot of hair, be extremely affectionate or go far in the demanding. He is very gifted and knowledgeable and can also be a Nono. That’s what fascinates me because it’s rare that it all happens in the same person. »