An In depth Interview with Paul Deslauriers!
The Paul DesLauriers Band is made up of virtuoso guitarist and singer Paul DesLauriers and masterful rhythm section Greg Morency on bass and Sam Harrisson on drums. Their latest release, the aptly titled Relentless (June 2016), is a genuine blues-rock escapade featuring 10 original new songs encompassing their most original and powerful work to date. On January 30th 2016 the band took 2nd place at the 32nd International Blues Challenge, the world’s largest gathering of blues acts, organized by The Blues Foundation. Held in Memphis Tennessee, they rose to the top to take the runner-up title in the band category in a world-wide competition that saw 119 bands competing for a spot on the podium. Released to unanimously excellent reviews, their self-titled 2014 album reached the #1 spot on the iTunes Canada Blues Chart within a month! They are currently touring Canada and the USA in support of the album with notable performances that include The Montreal International Jazz Festival, The Tremblant International Blues Festival, Ottawa BluesFest, Kalamazoo Blues Fest, Heritage Music Blues Festival in Wheeling West Virginia, the Daytona Blues Festival among many others.
Undeniably part of Canada’s musical elite, all three members are regular nominees and winners at the Maple Blues Awards and Quebec Lys Blues Awards. Paul DesLauriers is the Winner of 2 Maple Blues Awards in 2014, including Guitarist of the Year and winner of 5 Lys Blues Awards in Quebec. Greg Morency won the Maple Blues Award for Bassist of the Year in January 2015. Sam Harrisson is a three-time Maple Blues Award Drummer of the Year nominee and winner of record-holding 9 Lys Blues Awards in Quebec for Musical Performance.
In June 2013 they released “Enter The Gate” with sitar maestro Anwar Khurshid, a unique acoustic meeting between the Blues and Indian Classical music. The group won the “Best In Festival” award after their performance at the Tremblant International Blues Festival in July 2013.
