Nicolas Boulerice

Nicolas Boulerice was born into a family in love with words, songs and stories. Everything was in place to nurture a young man who was already having fun with his clarinet, the living-room piano and the books from his great-grandfather’s cabinet. He first studied jazz piano and then discovered the hurdy-gurdy. He crafted a few copies of this instrument himself before joining the group Ad Vielle que Pourra, with whom he began his career on the North American folk music circuit. Inspired by the songs of his grandmother, he immersed himself in Quebec traditional music, where he discovered his voice and his trade.

Since then, he has been exploring the local repertoire, to which he adds his own compositions, often to sing the history of his corner of the world. In 2002, he founded Le Vent du Nord with which he has performed more than 2000 concerts and recorded 10 albums. In 2015, he released Maison de bois, his first solo record as a songwriter, just after winning the CALQ award for creator of the year in the Montérégie region. Released in the fall of 2020, Maison de pierres, a set of traditional laments, is the second solo album in a projected trilogy.

Boulerice is the co-founder of La Veillée de l’avant-veille in Montréal (23 editions) and La Compagnie du Nord (production and management), and president of Festival Chants de Vielles, at home in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu (15 editions). When stars align, he shares the stage with his father, an author, for a performance of poetry and songs called Carnets de notes. His first collection of poetry will be published by Triptyque in 2021. A collective of authors he joined is also set to publish a book on Georges Brassens at Leméac. In addition to his lectures on the history of traditional music and turlute (mouth music), he is writing an introductory guide to Quebec trad for the Conseil québécois de la musique. He is also taking part in the development of the first online course on Québécois traditional music, TRAD 666, in collaboration with several artists and the CQPV. His whole life revolves around words, songs and stories.