the following Bio was extracted from Lucie Thibodeau.com
Lucie is the second child in a family of three children: she has an older brother and a younger sister. She spent her childhood in the country, namely in Thurso, on the peninsula of Black Bay (Baie Noire), bordered by the Outaouais River and Black Bay (Baie Noire).
Lucie's mother played the piano and her maternal grandfather (who died very young when she was just 7 years old) played the violin. From a family of musicians, very early on in life, Lucie developed a taste for music and she still hums continuously. It is an inherited trait. Around the age of 10 she took three years of piano lessons given by the Sisters in her school.
In 1964, her father built a hotel/motel in Plaisance Quebec as a family business. The family had to move and this forced her to change schools and give up her piano lessons. Although in her adolescent years, Lucie had to begin a new life style because she now had to participate in all tasks related to running a hotel. On occasion, especially during weekends, the band members would ask her to sing a few songs with them. Also, because her mother's piano was now in the Entertainment Hall, Lucie ventured to play a few tunes when the Bar was quiet. Then, one Christmas Eve, while she was housesitting the empty hotel, she sat at the piano and wrote two songs. She didn't keep a copy of her compositions, but remembers that she entitled one of them « Why does white kill black? » inspired by the brutal death of Martin Luther King. For her school entertainment shows, during her adolescent years, she would play the piano and sing that song at the Papineauville High School .
In September of 1969, having found her soul mate, Lucie moved to Cowansville in the Eastern Townships with her husband. They lived there for 19 years. During this long period, she missed her family and the Outaouais very much. She however made friends and lasting relationships with people from the Eastern Townships as well as giving birth to two boys, Francis and Sylvain.
Being a professional secretary, Lucie found work in the federal government for the Solicitor General of Canada. During weekends she continued to sing for her friends. This was mostly at home, accompanying herself on the piano that her mother had so often played.
Her passion for music always present, from 1986 to 1988 Lucie
joined the musical group “LéoZ”, comprised of
10 artists. The group later changed their name to “Diversion”
and was under the Musical Direction of Aurèle
Fredette of St-Hyacinthe , Quebec .
Lucie obtained the role of harmony singer, percussionist and quickly became one of the lead singers for the group, performing popular songs. The majority of the musicians were from St-Hyacinthe and most of the assignments were at the Château Bromont, the Laval Sheraton, the Queen Elizabeth in Montréal and others. The group played all the popular songs and music, mostly Ballroom-style.
Lucie had to sadly leave the group in 1988 because of her husband's transfer. Her sadness quickly turned to joy when she found out that they were moving back to the Outaouais. Finally she was returning home!
Lucie found another position as a secretary, but this time for the National Printing Bureau in Hull , Quebec . Since leaving the group “Diversion”, she missed her music so much, that she had to find a way to fill the gap. So, for two consecutive years Lucie and another member of the National Printing Bureau formed a Christmas choir from the pre-Tunney Printing Centre to the Communications Canada Group and, to the Energy, Mines and Resources Building . The choir was made up of approximately twenty employees from the Operations, Publishing and/or Human Resources Directorates. In addition to singing throughout the Department where there was approximately 2500 employees, the little choir ventured out to the La Pieta Hospital in Hull, Quebec where they delighted the residents and their visitors whom by the way, sang along with the choir.
A wish never disclosed! On Christmas Eve of 1993, Lucie divulged
to her sister-in-law that she had wanted a guitar for a long time.
However because she probably could never play she thought the investment
would not be worth the adventure. Her husband, who had overheard
their conversation, decided to buy her a guitar for her fast approaching
birthday.
As was the norm for a January 11th, the temperature was exceedingly cold; the yard was filled with snow and snowdrifts. After work the couple headed home for supper, at Lucie's request, because she had declared that she would really like to relax in a warm bath. Her husband took advantage of this period to shovel the snow and then to discretely place the guitar case on the living room table, complete with dimmed lights. When Lucie came down the staircase, which landed in the living room, she saw the black box and realized that her husband had made her dream come true. She was so ecstatically happy that she spent most of the evening calling all her friends to tell them the good news…. But, most of them already knew…..
On January 18th of that same year, Lucie had one guitar course and left the following day for a one-month Florida vacation. She made sure that she brought her guitar with her. Upon her return, Lucie was able to play the guitar and accompany herself for some twenty songs without too much difficulty. She now had proof – music and learning have no age limit!
Four months later, in April 1994, Lucie welcomed a couple of friends in her home, namely Rosaire and Diane. They unintentionally become the reason for a new song. She was awakened quite a few times during that same night with a tune in her head. Furthermore, the lyrics were automatically coming to her. When she got up, she realized that she had just written her first true composition – « Rosaire et sa Blonde ».
In February 1995 , Lucie accepted to go on stage with her guitar in Plaisance and entertained the people for a 20-minute period as a fund raising activity for the Ottawa Community Radio Station CHUO. The Wakefield Country Festival organizer, Mrs. Pauline Diotte happened to be in the audience. She was so delighted with Lucie's performance, she offered Lucie two entertainment engagements at the Wakefield Festival being held that June. The encouragement of the musicians that accompanied her and the spontaneous reaction from attending country music lovers made Lucie realize that she should probably make an album.
In July of that same year, Lucie had an inspiration for another new song. It was associated to her approaching 25 th Wedding anniversary. The title was « Pour toujours mon amour » or Forever my love.
In August of 1995 Lucie entered the Claude Gratton Studio to produce her very first bilingual album. She named her album after her last composition « Pour toujours mon amour ».
Because Lucie loves soft, quiet songs that come from the heart
as well as those with a good rhythm she is specialized in country
western music as well as popular music.
In 1996 , Lucie wins the Award for Best Artist - American Country Female Vocal Discovery -Outaouais Region « Révélation interprète féminine de la chanson Country Américaine - région Outaouaise » . In the meantime, Lucie is continually improving herself by taking a course on « The Art of the Stage ».
In 1997 and 1998 , Lucie and her husband spend six months a year in the United States . They spent time in Florida , Texas and Louisiana .
For the 1998/99 Christmas season Lucie introduced a Christmas
Choir in Homestead (FL). This move brought a lot of atmosphere and
plenty of nostalgia.
In 1998, Lucie becomes Canadian Ambassador in Texas for the “Nordistes/Sudistes – North through South Event. Since that year, the privileged “snowbirds” can hear her sing - here and there.
Slowly, Lucie abandons American song to concentrate more of her efforts on becoming a music and song composer. She loved writing songs and texts and had the hope of producing a second album. It was in May of 1999 , that Lucie entered a Montreal Studio to produce a new recording under the musical direction of André Proulx. It was with great pride that she arrived with eleven new songs. All of them from her own raw material. Nine in French and two in English. The twelfth she set aside because wanted to do a special Spanish song.
While listening to Lucie sing « Là d'où je viens » in the Studios, André Proulx said:
"It is so beautiful, you would think that she is a feminine version of Gilles Vigneault! It is worthy of grand artists".
In 1999, Lucie entitled her second album « Là
d'où je viens » in honor of life,
nature, her parents and her family.
In July of the same year, Lucie went on a Promotional Tour for nineteen days. She traveled throughout the Maritimes. Wherever she went, she was welcomed with open arms.
On September 11th, 1999 , in a Thurso hall filled to capacity, Lucie officially launched her second album.
In O ctober 2000 , Lucie gave a benefit performance
at the “ Brunch des retrouvailles 2000 “,
which formed had the honor to sing the theme song that she wrote
for the event: « Plaisance et ses souvenirs
d'antan » as well as « Là
d'où je viens » in front of more
than 1500 people which included some dignitaries, such as a few
Members of Parliament, Mgr Ebacher and Mrs. Lise Thibault (Lieutenant
Governor of Quebec), whom incidentally wanted to personally congratulate
Lucie for her performance saying that her music and songs added
beauty and atmosphere to the day.
At about the same time Alain Morisod – a well-known artist with the group - Sweet People – had obtained a copy of her album. He sent her a letter that said in part ……. “Some of your songs were so beautiful and decisively of such a great quality, they simply surpass other productions of the same style”.
