LUCIE BLUE TREMBLAY AND THE BREAST EXAM PROJECT
New Mexico CultureNet
A Benefit Concert on August 20th, 2006
I am not just a fan of Lucie Blue Tremblay and her music, I am an admirer of her heart and soul. To listen to her music is to feel your heart strings be pulled. Whether she is singing in English or French, or producing that incredible whistle of hers, you are touched. Lucie has an array of beautiful love songs, songs that speak of the “love that must not be named,” and of issues that women, especially lesbians are faced with every day. Although it is easier today for mainstream artists to be honest about their orientation, few do so from their first step out the door. And even fewer still reach out to others within the gay and lesbian community to ease transitions through their lives with the universal language of music.
Lucie began her career as a child, accompanying her mother’s five piece band as a drummer. Later she self taught herself guitar, and then the piano. Recognized in 1984 as a rising star, sweeping three of the four awards at the 16th Annual Granby Song Festival in Granby, Quebec, her first appearance in the United States was at the 1985 Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival’s Day stage singing a duet with another Canadian singer-songwriter, Ferron.
Despite her popularity in Canada including over 20 television appearances, she wanted to record on an independent label, in order to maintain artistic control. Her debut album, released in 1986 by Olivia Records, was half in English and half in French and was voted Top Ten Album of the Year by the Boston Globe. In addition to songs about love like her trademark “So Lucky,” she bravely included a song about incest sung from the child’s perspective (“Voix d’Enfant”), as a means of letting other victims know that they are not alone.
In 1989, she released the next stage of her musical journey, “Tendresse.” On this recording she continues to sing in both French and English, steadfastly believing in the right of Québécoise to maintain their French identity, and in addition to the requisite love songs, is a title about teenage suicide, “Peaking.” 1992’s “Transformations” tackled the topics of aging, in “Getting Old” and the difficulties of maintaining a romantic relationship while on the road. “I’m Ready” released in 1997, marked the end of a phase in her life during which she had attended Concordia University and studied music therapy.
Her fifth recording, “Because of You,” is a testimony to the ending of love, and was released in 2001. Mike Fitzpatrick in a 2002 Issue of Green Bay stated: "Tremblay chronicled her emotional journey following the unexpected break up with her former lover who left on a ten-day trip and simply never returned. The piece began with a dirge-like solo piano, then changed tempo, becoming more complex and celebratory as Tremblay lyrically charted her resulting depression then recovery from the tragic, traumatic event. The total effect was spellbinding.”
Her most recent recording, in 2004, was “It’s Got to Be About Love,” and was created to celebrate the courage of GLBT people, their families, and the straight allies who support them, and includes “I Want You To Know Who I Really Am,” a song written to help gays and lesbians “come out” to friends and family without having to deal with the original reactions of those individuals. This song was originally released by itself as a cassette with a place in the liner notes to write a personal note to the recipient and included information on PFLAG and other groups who are supportive.
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