JP Cormier direct from Cape Breton

Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter

 

East coast crooner JP Cormier is coming to Strathmore for a show on April 17.
Cormier, whose style has been called a Canadian mix of bluegrass, folk and Celtic, is a solo performer, a multi-instrumentalist and a singer-songwriter.
“I just play music what I like,” said Cormier. “I have a vast catalogue of influences.”
Chet Atkins is his biggest inspiration and earliest influence; Cormier started playing the guitar because of him. Among the instruments Cormier plays are the mandolin, fiddle, banjo, bass, oboe, piano, and drums.
“On the other side of the coin there were Cape Breton players like John Allan Cameron and Winston Fitzgerald was one of our greatest fiddlers,” said Cormier.
“My father was a fiddler so I was around that music my entire childhood, that’s what I guess gave me such an interesting cross section of musical heroes. I was steeped in the Cape Breton tradition but I was surrounded by recordings of the great American artists like Chet, Doc Watson, Tony Rice, a lot of bluegrass players, a lot of Americana, mountain music.”
Music is something Cormier thinks he was meant to do. At the age of three he was already putting his own LP’s on the turntable and listening to them, and by the age of five he picked up a guitar and never looked back.
“This is what I have always done. This isn’t a job, it’s a life, and there was no other choice for me. At a very young age I didn’t have any choice, I was born like this, you can’t stop that,” said Cormier.
The show is being presented by the Strathmore Musical Arts Society and will be held at the Strathmore Golf Course. Cocktails will be at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. and music at 8 p.m. Tickets are available for $40 at Pro Water, Marlin Travel, Assist Business Centre, Kim’s Café and at the Golf Course. They can also be purchased online (www.strathmorearts.com).