Hello and welcome to the online home of Lou Laurence! Despite the months of foreboding grey, (and a brief and offensive episode of winter jackets in early June) summer has arrived in Montreal. I'm looking forward to the upcoming festivals with Champion and his G-Strings. It will be my first visits to Alma, Chicoutimi and Rimouski, Quebec and I can't wait to explore these places. If you haven't had the chance to see a Champion show before, you are missing out! Imagine four guitars, one bass, two badass lead vocalists and the Champion himself conducting, bringing in the rhythm and beats, improvising, jumping and generally bringing out the dance in everyone. It's a hell of a time! (Here's a little clip of us at Le Festif last summer!)

I'm also getting ready for singing for a historical train yard tour in Montreal's Parc Extension neighbourhood. That'll definitely be a first. For any non-Montrealers, summer here is rife with unexpected performance opportunities for musicians.

In August, I'll be doing my first wedding gig. I've sung a song for a friend's wedding before, but this will be my first multi-set wedding takeover. Who knows, if all goes smoothly, maybe I'll be serenading you and yours under the moonlight of your choice... I must admit, I can be a drippy romantic when it feels right, so the idea of playing for a room full of folks ruminating on l'amour seems like a good time to me. Also, I've noticed my music brings the make-out spirit out in people (perhaps in a future blog post I'll look a little further into that), so I think weddings and I could get along just fine.

Also in August, I have the very exciting opportunity to open for King Creosote + Michael Johnston at Quai des Brumes.  These fellas are coming all the way from Scotland to bring the beautiful Quai des Brumes some fantastic sounds. I was very flattered when I was asked to be a part of this night. Take a listen to "You Just Want" off of King Creosote's latest album and you will find yourself buying tickets for everyone you know (and regretting nothing about your spending spree).

I'll be adding gigs along the way and of course busking around town in the glorious sunshine. I'll add adventure stories and thinkings to this blog and I'll look forward to sharing in the season of trees-with-leaves with you!