You and Me
You & Me is a Montreal pop-folk-rock-bluesy band, which shines as much by the beauty of its music as by the charisma of the two musicians who compose the band.
Front stage, you have the mysterious and talented James Lemay, singing his soul out, while playing skilfully his guitar and harmonica. Then, just a bit behind him, we discover Valerie Giroux, looking like a little star that just fell from the sky, glowing behind her drums. Her playing style on the drums and the percussions is all about subtlety and her backing vocals blend perfectly with James’s voice. On stage, as in reality, they have a palpable complicity; we can feel the connection between those two true friends just by looking at them. With their hypnotic energy, their incredible musical talent and their fascinating beauty, James and Valerie cast a spell almost instantaneously over you, making them a captivating, one of a kind band.
The story of You & Me officially starts in 2001, in the eastern part of Montreal, while 2 musicians and childhood friends, James and Valerie, left the city in a victorious blue Volkswagen filled with musical instruments to begin an epic road trip all across North America which would last almost 3 years. As they traveled, the two friends perfected their art and offered live performances in many American cities including Santa Monica, San Diego, Los Angeles, Venice, Hollywood, San Antonio, New Orleans and Key West. They charmed their audience nights after nights, so much that while performing in the south of California, they had to record a live album to please their growing fan base. The album, simply titled “You & Me live in California”, which was only available at their gigs, got a very good response, they sold about 2 thousand copies of it in only a few months.
After nearly 2 years on the road, they caught the attention of Jeb Brien’s fiancée, who overheard their live album playing in a sign shop in Santa Monica. Jeb Brien is a well known producer/director at Sony, and you can imagine the excitement of James and Valerie when they received an email asking them for a demo of original music to be sent to him! So, for this occasion, they decided to literally turn their Westfalia van into a mini recording studio to record and produce some new songs. They were completely new at the art of recording…they bought themselves a little digital multitrack recorder and drove near Zion national park in Utah to find a quiet place for the recording sessions. Their little studio was entirely solar powered, they would charge the batteries during the day with a solar panel and record when the sun was down, taking advantage of the silence of the night.
It took almost a month to finish that demo, and at the end they didn’t get sign by Sony, but they discovered in themselves an interest and a real talent for the art of recording and producing, which was the beginning of another learning adventure! Today, in addition of being great musicians, James and Valerie can wear with grace the hats of producer and sound engineer and they are proudly getting ready to launch their debut studio album which have been totally self produced from the writing of the songs, to the final mixes passing by the arranging and producing as well as the performing (of course!). The result is really impressive and it is twice as impressive when you think that all the credits go to only You and Me.
Enjoy! This is a super setlist courtesy of You and Me.
