Hey everyone, it’s Keith again.  I know we haven’t kept up with blogging very much, but that’s all about to change.  I know many of you won’t see this until the new DiscoverStars page is released, and by then, Bonnaroo news will be old, but I wanted to post it up.  So, below you will find a nice long list of artists playing the show June 11-13.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Phish (2 Shows)
Beastie Boys
Nine Inch Nails
David Byrne
Wilco
Al Green
Snoop Dogg
Elvis Costello Solo
Erykah Badu
Paul Oakenfold
Ben Harper and Relentless7
The Mars Volta
TV on the Radio
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Gov’t Mule
Andrew Bird
Merle Haggard
MGMT
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The Decemberists
Girl Talk
Bon Iver
Béla Fleck & Toumani Diabate
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Galactic
The Del McCoury Band
of Montreal
Allen Toussaint
Coheed and Cambria
Booker T & the DBTs
David Grisman Quintet
Lucinda Williams
Animal Collective
Gomez
Neko Case
Down
Jenny Lewis
Santogold
Robert Earl Keen
Citizen Cope
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force
The Ting Tings
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
King Sunny Adé
Okkervil River
St. Vincent
Zac Brown Band
Raphael Saadiq
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Crystal Castles
Tift Merritt
Brett Dennen
Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Toubab Krewe
People Under the Stairs
Alejandro Escovedo
Vieux Farka Touré
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
Cherryholmes
Yeasayer
Todd Snider
Chairlift
Portugal. The Man.
The SteelDrivers
Midnite
The Knux
The Low Anthem
Delta Spirit
A.A. Bondy
The Lovell Sisters
Alberta Cross

            On February 26^th, 1971 in Six-Fours-Les-Plages, France, a star was born. Hélène Segara (originally named Helene Rizzo), raised by an Italian father and an Armenian mother, lived an average lifestyle by attending a Catholic school and being a younger sister to her older sibling, Magali. However, at 11 years old, Hélène’s parents divorced, leaving Helene to stay with her mother. In the course of that year, Hélène took part in a singing contest, in which she undoubtedly won. Despite her natural and incredible talent at singing, it was not her parents wishes that she embark upon a life leaded by performing. Coming off as somewhat quiet and vulnerable, Hélène took an enormous step in leaving home at the mere age of 14 to perform at least 1,200 songs in various bars and restaurants.

            Years later, in 1989, her first son Raphael was born. After a few years of raising her newborn, Hélène released a hit single in 1993. Seeing that she was doing considerably well after a few years’ time, she left the French Riviera in 1996 to live in Paris.

            Searching for a producer who was interested, she finally stumbled upon Orlando (French singer Dalida’s brother and producer) who instantly knew Hélène harbored the talent to make it big. As the year 1997 arrived, her first professional single, ‘Je Vous Aime, Adieu,’ was released, selling 600,000 copies, making an impressive image upon herself to the public, and she recorded her first album, ‘Coeur de Verre,’ which turned out as an ultimate success.

            A year later, Hélène took part in Luc Plamondon’s famous play, ‘Notre Dame de Paris,’ where she was offered the role as the beautiful, mysterious gypsy Esmeralda, where she performed with the alikes of famous artists, Bruno Pelletier, Garou, and Daniel Lavoie.  Esmeralda complemented Hélène in a way of expressing genuine femininity and a unique, bohemian sound to Hélène’s vocals. Unfortunately, after performing in NDdP for so long, the stress and constant performances began to wear out her voice, in which resulted in vocal surgery.

            Yet, the vocal surgery did not stop her from singing.  After NDdP, a second album was released, named ‘Au Nom D’une Femme,’ which also did not disappoint her fans. In 2001, Hélène was recognized greatly for her talents when she was awarded the ‘Victoire de la Musique,’ award for best Female Artist. To live up even more to that title, her next album, ‘Humaine,’ was released in 2003, where her song, ‘L’amour est un Soleil,’ was a huge hit.

            That same year, Hélène finally found love. She married Mathieu Lecat As well as gave birth to another son, Matteo. 2004 proved just as much as a successful year when she gave birth to a daughter, Maya. For the next year or so, she evidently took some time off to focus on her family. It wasn’t until 2006 that her fourth album release, ‘Quand l’éternité,’ was proving her amazing talent once again. In the summer of 2008, Bruno Pelletier and Hélène recorded the lovely ballad, ‘La Moitié de Nous.’

Hélène is planning for a fifth album release this upcoming fall.

Here is a clip of the hit, ‘L’amour est un Soleil.’

            Presented to you from Cleveland, OH, ‘Shake It!’ is a band whose message, music, and personality will have you instantly hooked. Forming about a year ago, ‘Shake It!’ currently has one album in the works, ‘Intermission,’ which has received very positive feedback from listeners and fans. Currently, the band is working hard on another album, still not sure when it is to be released, but fans can be sure it will prove just as amazing as the first.

            And how could it be a disappointment? With the immense talent of Will Armstrong on lead guitar and vocals, Steve Pisk controlling the drums and vocals, Ricky Zaborowski on rhythm guitar and vocals, Chris Manocchio and his talents on bass and vocals, along with Jaime Puckett playing piano as well as lead vocals, it is impossible for them to create any music less than satisfying.

            The live performances by ‘Shake It!’ have also impressed many. With notable shows at places such as Peabody’s, Agora Ballroom, Brother’s Lounge, and The Grog Shop, ‘Shake It!,’ has audience members demanding for more as they give off insane energy to their toe-tapping punk rock sound. If there’s any message that this band wishes to send out to its fans, it is to always keep things positive, yet different. Once you hear one of their fun and exhilarating tracks, you’ll instantly notice the positive attitude it carries.

            Despite their ability and focus on maintaining a fun and positive attitude, it does not mean this band doesn’t take their job seriously. While in the recording studio, the determination and drive of creating the best music possible was their first and main priority. Perfection and excellence is their aim, which will assure unbelievable and extraordinary outcomes of their music, and nothing less.

Andrée Watters

       Making her start in ‘Noël à Québec’ at only 15 years old, Andrée Watters has grown into one of the biggest pop-rock sensations in Québec. After being discovered at the mere age of 15, it wasn’t until two years later in 2000 that Andrée Watters abandoned her small town home and left for Montréal to promote her singing career. A year later, Watters signed for her first contract with the multi-national recording company, SONY-BMG.

          Finally, in 2003, Andrée released her first album ‘AW.’ With hit singles, ‘Si Exceptionnel,’ and ‘Dépendre de Toi,’ it’s no wonder why ‘AW’ received 5 nominations (most popular song of the year, show of the year interpreted by author-composer, year revelation, female interpreter of the year, and rock album of the year) in 2004.

          Bringing back her powerful vocals in 2005, Andrée’s second album ‘À Travers’ proved even more successful when having won Rock Album of the Year in 2006.

Taking a short break from the recording studio, Watters tried a different tactic with her career, and decided to prove her talent on the stage. Alongside popular singers such as Bruno Pelletier, Watters undertook the role as Mina in Bruno’s ‘Dracula- Entre l’amour et la mort,’ Watters received positive feedback from fans and critics all around.

      A year later after touring ’Dracula,’ another exciting offer fell into Watters’ lap; her first cameo in the film ‘À vos Marques… Party!’ where she then preformed as well as co-written the theme song, ‘Qui Je Suis.’

          As of late, Andrée Watters’ third album ‘Minuit,’ was just released as of April 29^th, 2008,  the title hit already charted on most Francophone Charts in Québec. And like her first two previous albums, Watters used her amazing talent and creativity to write all ten songs and worked alongside Sylvain Cossette (who also portrayed the role as Mina’s lover, Jonathan, in ‘Dracula’) who helped produce her newest album. Later this year, or early 2009, this pop-rock singer plans to perform on her own tour after touring with musical talent Dan Bigras. 

 For your pleasure, here is a video of Watters’ latest hit single of ‘Minuit.’

The Golden Voice of Québec

Known for years as ‘The Golden Voice of Québec,’ Bruno Pelletier has made a huge name for himself since his first album release in 1992. Yet his career didn’t begin there. In 1989, Bruno started performing as lead singer in his band named Pëll (derived from his last name, Pelletier). The more he sang, the more people recognized the richness and pureness of Bruno’s voice, making himself known to famous composers such as Luc Plamondon.

1992 stuck out as an important year for Bruno Pelletier when Luc Plamondon and Michel Berger offered Bruno a role in a play called, Le legende de Jimmy, which helped his sales from his premiere album, ‘Bruno Pelletier’.

Two years afterwards, Bruno then appeared in yet another production by Luc Plamondon, in which he took on the role as Johnny Rockfort in ‘Starmania’. A year later in ’95, Bruno decided to release his second album, ‘Défaire l’amour.’

It wasn’t until 1997 however, that Bruno especially caught the public’s eye with his third  album, ‘Miserere,’ where he had sung not a French song, but an Italian piece, (also named after the album), ‘Miserere,’ a song which proved the golden voice Bruno carried. What also came along in Bruno’s career path in 1997 was a small role in television series called ‘Omerta 2’ where he was instantly recognized.

His role on ‘Omerta’ did not last very long, but that did not matter much as the next role-offer as the poet, Gringoire, in Notre-Dame de Paris, written also by Luc Plamondon and Richard Cocciante at ‘Le Palais des Congres de Paris,’ was another success. Also, in ’99, Bruno felt the need to release yet another album, ‘D’autres rives,’ on top of his role in Notre-Dame. Gringoire easily became Bruno’s most famous role to date, for in 2000, NDDP (Notre-Dame de Paris) went Anglophone to London where he took upon the English role as Gringoire.

Bruno Pelletier as Gringoire in NDDP.

As NDDP came to an end, Bruno’s attention focused once again on his album-making career, taking a break from the stage. In 2001, his first Live album, ‘Sur Scène’ came out, once again showing off the amazing talent this Québecois star possessed.

Always performing more pop-world type music, Bruno Pelletier took on a bit more rock-edged type of music for his 2002 release of ‘Un Monde à l’envers.’ Near the end of 2002, Bruno Pelletier took yet another drastic change in styles of music and worked with OSM (the Orchestra Symphony of Montréal) to make his first ever Christmas album, Concert de Noël; an album that completely and utterly left listeners in awe when the richness of Pelletier’s classical voice stood out from well-known classics such as ‘Ave Maria,’ ‘Joyeux Noël,’ and even from his 1997 hit, ‘Miserere.’

Taking a small break after his Christmas album, Bruno returned on stage once more in the role of Dracula. ‘Dracula- Entre l’amour et la mort,’ created in 2005 by Bruno himself, with the help of song writer Roger Tabra, composer Simon Leclerc (who also helped out with l’OSM), and direction from Richard Ouzounian, was an immediate hit. Other well-known pop/rock stars such as Andrée Watters, Daniel Boucher, Sylvain Cossette, and Gabrielle Destroismaisons were also involved in the production. The show ran for a year.

Then in 2008, Bruno and the cast of Dracula performed in Lyon, France for a month, leaving quite enough time for Bruno to focus on his jazz album, ‘Bruno Pelletier et le Groszorchestre.’ Some songs on this album were in fact re-done by Bruno from jazz hit-artists Billy Joel such as ‘Just the Way You Are,’ and Sting’s ‘Roxanne,’ are included in the CD, as well as some French songs that were freshly composed by Bruno himself, or some old songs of his that were recreated to give a more jazz feeling to fit the album. A live DVD was just released of ‘Groszorchestre,’ where Bruno is still performing these songs today.

To hear a clip from Bruno’s ‘Groszorchestre, here is the live performance of, ‘Just the Way You Are.’ and one of the most famous songs from Notre Dame, ‘Le Temps des Cathedrals.’

Just the Way You Are

Le Temps des Cathedrals (The Time of the Cathedrals)

In a nutshell, music is my life. My taste in music is always changing and is always very open. Like any other pre-teen, I admit I was a die-hard *NSYNC fan. After that fad had passed, I preferred more country artists such as Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Martina McBride, etc. And while listening to country, my tastes stretched out towards classical, rock, hip-hop, jazz, even foreign music.

Some may question the foreign music I just mentioned. To be truthful, I fell upon that genre by mere chance. After listening to a few astounding French artists, French music became the music that I lived and breathed. One artist who particularly stood out for me was the Quebecois newcomer Garou, who made his fame by starting out in the role of Quasimodo in one of France’s most famous plays in 1998-1999, Notre-Dame de Paris.

With a unique raspy voice, wonderful stage presence, and an astounding knack for always blowing the audiences’ mind away, Garou soon become one of the most famous stars to date. With his first album release ‘Seul,’ (Alone) in the year 2000, this French-Canadian singer caught people’s attention with the song release ‘Sous le Vent,’ (Under the Wind), in which he was accompanied by none other than the hit-sensation, Céline Dion.

After the success of his first album, Garou felt it was time to go Live. The release of his premiere live album ‘Seul…Avec Vous,’ (Alone… With You), increased this singer’s popularity immensely, stealing the audiences hearts with each note he sang; each note being sung with extreme passion. A few years after his live album release, his next albums ‘Reviens’ (Return), and self-named album ‘Garou,’ were instant hits.

Finally, just this past year, Garou decided to take action in something that caught everyone’s attention: A release of an English album.

‘Piece of My Soul,’ with it’s catchy lyrics from the up-beat number one hit, ‘Stand Up,’ to a more chilled, low-key tune from ‘Burning,’ captures this artist’s amazing ability to touch the listener’s heart and indeed touches a piece of their soul.

Below is a video clip of Garou’s newest release ‘Stand Up,’ from his latest album, ‘Piece of My Soul,’ as well as the above-mentioned clip, ‘Sous le Vent,’ featuring Céline Dion. Enjoy!

For more updates, I will be posting new blogs each week on Discoverstars.com… so feel free to check them out!

Country Mile

The first band that I am going to talk about in this section goes by the name of Country Mile. Country Mile is an amazingly talented country music act from Northwest Ohio. The band formed in 2006, and consists of five members with an avid desire to make spectacular music. Country Mile is quickly gaining a well- deserved fan base across the nation, and can be heard on over 2000 radio stations worldwide. In 2007, Country Mile released one of their most popular albums to date titled, Unhinged. Unhinged is a nine song musical journey that will have listeners singing along to catchy choruses, and rocking to electric guitar laced tracks. Even with some radio friendly tunes, there are several factors that set Country Mile apart from other popular country music acts. The lyrical content of Country Mile is second to none in the country music industry, and it is displayed throughout Unhinged. The second factor that sets Country Mile apart from your standard country music act is the diversity of the music. The five member band has a plethora of different musical influences that are displayed within their tunes. In a day and age where many genres of music sound alike, Country Mile takes the next step in breaking down the barriers between country music, classic rock, and hard rock. Take a listen to their first single from Unhinged titled, “Where its Been” This is a reflective song that highlights a common theme we are all familiar with, growing up.