Annie Blanchard and Maxime Landry rekindle the bond between Dolly Parton and the late Kenny Rogers by performing their greatest hits. On March 24 and 25, two friends will take the stage of the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal in a massive show worthy of these two sacred monsters of American country music.
Thus, Annie and Maxime officially begin their “Jolene & The Gambler – Le country de nos idoles” tour in the metropolis, and on April 2 they will perform at the Capitole Theater in Quebec. There are about sixty dates on their agenda for the next 12 months.
In the spotlight, two former academics offer 14 tracks from the album “Jolene & The Gambler”, released during the last edition of the Festival de Saint-Tite, as well as classics from local song legends.
“In the same vein as the album, we place the packaging so that it works on stage, that it is beautiful, that it sounds and looks like Dolly and Kenny,” Agence QMI’s Maxim Landry said, recalling that his friendship with Annie was born when Rene Martel brought them together for one of her shows ten years ago. “We hit it off right away and we said to ourselves that we should put on a show together because we complement each other on multiple levels. That’s definitely my Dolly!”
Smooth like Dolly and Kenny
“We offer a huge show, we have six musicians on stage, we have a big set, we change costumes and we are chic, like Dolly and Kenny. That’s the kind of tour I did with the Star Academy, the big machine. And to offer a “show” with covers that everyone knows and loves to this day, I can say that the party is established already at the first melody, this is unusual.
Singer-songwriter Beauceron believes the show can even be performed in residence, a place that tourists flock to. “After the tour is over, the ideal would be somewhere to settle down.”
Annie and Maxime also feature country classics such as Paul Daraish, René Martel, Willie Nelson and Patrick Norman on stage to expand the network, add songs in French and set the stage for their next opus.
During a conversation with the 35-year-old artist, he was in the studio with Annie to record pieces for their studio album “Le country de nos idoles”, which will be re-presented in St. Titus and will include works by these other artists such as Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers marked their journey, both personal and creative.
Through his company Productions Le Veilleur, Maxime Landry is becoming more and more of a producer and he has no shortage of work to do because he creates his own. “I work hard! This is my little Beauceron side!” He is also working on his next album of original compositions, which will be released in early 2024.
“I have songs that are sleeping right now in books at home and I have demos saved on my phone, I can’t dismiss the author in me.”
