Robert Paquette (born July 2, 1949) is a Canadian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singer-songwriter. In 1970, he worked with the student theatre group at

Laurentian University Laurentian University (), officially Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Laurentian offers a variety of undergr ...

, composing songs for the

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians ( or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2021, according to the Government of Ontario, ther ...

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

''Moé, j'viens du nord, 'stie!'' The troupe, which was one of the creative initiatives of the

CANO CANO, a Canadian progressive rock band of the 1970s and 1980s, was the most successful popular musical group in Franco-Ontarian history. Origins CANO evolved out of the ''Coopérative des artistes du Nouvel-Ontario'' (''Artists' Cooperative of N ...

artistic movement, evolved into the

Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario (''Theatre of New-Ontario'') is a Canadian professional theatre company. Located in Sudbury, Ontario, the company produces French language stage productions. The company was founded in 1971 by the Coopérative des ar ...

. Paquette released his first album as a soloist in 1974, and toured Canada and the United States. He performed at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

in Ottawa in 1975. In 1978, Paquette represented Canada at the Festival de Spa in Belgium. Following his 1984 album ''Gare à vous'', Paquette concentrated on television and stage work for

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

's Chaîne française, SRC and the Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario. He released a compilation of his songs in 1995. He toured with

Marcel Aymar Marcel Aymar (born in Meteghan, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian musician, composer, writer and actor. He moved to Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario in 1972 as a teen and was a founding member of the popular Franco-Ontarian group CANO, playing guitar.Kuz ...

and Paul Demers in the 1990s as the performing group Paquette-Aymar-Demers. He also has collaborated with singer-songwriter

Chuck Labelle Jean-Guy (Chuck) Labelle (born 18 March 1954) is a Franco-Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who performs francophone New Country-Rock music. He is from Mattawa, Ontario. His first album, ''Chuck'', reached Gold status after two years and hi ...

. Paquette helped to found the Association des professionnels de la chanson et de la musique, of which he was also the vice-president for 12 years; in 2001, he was the recipient of the association's Prix hommage at its first Gala Trille Or. That same year, his songs "Blanc et bleu," from the album ''Prends celui qui passe,'' and "Jamaica," from ''Au pied du courant'', received SOCAN Classic awards. In 2018, "Bleu et Blanc" was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Discography

* ''Dépêche-toi soleil'' (1974) * ''Prends celui qui passe'' (1976) * ''Au pied du courant'' (1978) * ''Robert Paquette en Europe'' (1979) * ''Paquette'' (1981) * ''Gare à vous'' (1984) * ''Moi j'viens du nord – compilation 1974–1990'' (1995) * ''Un Cadeau de Noël'' (1995, with

) * ''Noël encore une fois'' (2000, with Chuck Labelle) * ''Noël en tout et partout'' (2006, with Chuck Labelle)

References

External links

Robert Paquette
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paquette, Robert 1949 births Living people Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Franco-Ontarian people French-language singers of Canada Laurentian University alumni Musicians from Greater Sudbury Singers from Ontario 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters