Gilles Vigneault

Gilles Vigneault born 27 October 1928 is a Canadian poet publisher singersongwriter and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebecs unofficial anthems Mon pays and Gens du pays and his line Mon pays ce nest pas un pays cest lhiver My country is not a country it is winter from Mon Pays became a proverb in Quebec Vigneault is a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec Knight of the Legion of Honour and Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Vigneault was born in Natashquan in the CôteNord region of Quebec He started writing poetry during his studies at the seminary in Rimouski and by the 1950s was publishing poems and writing songs for other performers In 1959 he founded the publishing house Les Éditions de lArc to distribute his publications His first collection Étraves was published in 1959 In 1960 Vigneault made his singing debut at the LArlequin club in Quebec City followed by a successful Montreal concert later that year In 1962 he recorded his first album Gilles Vigneault and received the Grand Prix du Disque from Montreal radio station CKAC His reputation grew in Quebec and beyond with the success of his song Mon Pays from the soundtrack of the NFB film The Snow Has Melted on the Manicouagan La neige a fondu sur la Manicouagan in 1965 Vigneaults reputation as a songwriter and performer continued to spread and he became popular not only in Quebec but also in English Canada and Europe He performed in major Canadian concert halls including Montreals Place des Arts the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and at Torontos Massey Hall In Europe he toured in France Switzerland Poland Belgium and Luxembourg The mid1970s saw Vigneaults participation in several major events On 13 August 1974 130000 spectators came together on the Plains of Abraham for the Superfrancofête where Vigneault participated in a historic concert alongside Félix Leclerc and Robert Charlebois The concert was recorded and released as the album Jai vu le loup le renard le lion At the SaintJeanBaptiste Day concert Les 5 JeanBaptistes on Montreals Mount Royal on 24 June 1976 Gilles Vigneault performed together with Robert Charlebois Claude Léveillée JeanPierre Ferland and Yvon Deschamps This concert was recorded and released as 1 fois 5 which later received the Grand Prix du Disque the Charles Cros award Vigneaults political views have remained strongly in favour of national sovereignty for Quebec During the 2014 Quebec general election campaign he supported the Parti Québécois The main subjects of Vigneaults writing are Quebec and its people as well as human relationships love and everyday life Vigneault is also concerned with environmental issues and has written songs and tales for children His childhood reminiscences about his upbringing were filmed by Michel Moreau for the 1993 documentary film A Childhood in Natashquan Une enfance à Natashquan Gilles Vigneault has seven children Michel Louis François a poet and lyricist Pascale Guillaume a novelist Jessica a pianist and singer and Benjamin a percussionist Source Article Gilles Vigneault from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30