Barely back from a fun European tour with Charlotte Cornfield, and already recording my brand new album in Swansea (South Wales) with fantastic local musicians! At last! I hadn’t been in a recording studio since August 2010 in Toronto… 12 new songs are in the works at the RookPie Studio in the scenic Gower Peninsula and this is sounding really good.
Exciting stuff is happening, keep your ears to the ground…
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
After a wild summer spent in Berlin, The Keys has now relocated to Tolkienish South-East Wales in the notorious « Grave Yard of Ambition » : Swansea, native town of Dylan Thomas. Lucky enough to quickly meet enthusiastic and talented musicians, the brilliant Jamie Williams on pounding drums and awesome Robyn Griffiths on groovy bass, he put together a Folk’n'Roll trio for a full-band show in Cardiff, as seen below.
Now is time to get ready for a big European tour with the fantastic Charlotte Cornfield, bringing them for more than 35 shows across France, Germany, Belgium and Denmark. Come join the adventure and hear the new songs and stories from wordy and intense singer-songwriters!
Suivez l’évènement sur Facebook ici et le blog de tournée là !
When back from these adventures, the new LP shall be recorded in Wales in the dead of winter with local talent, and beyond ! Exciting times indeed. Stay tuned…
Hello there!
Moved to Berlin this summer with much enthusiasm. Working on thrilling new songs, paving the way for imminent recordings. Can’t wait to face a studio microphone again. This summer sounds real good.
European tour for November/December in Germany & France to be announced with Charlotte Cornfield (Canada), so stay tuned !
A peine revenu d’une tournée américaine riche en matières grasses (voir le blog de tournée avec textes et photos ici, des vidéos arrivent bientôt!), je me prépare à partir à l’assaut de mon pays natal afin de promouvoir la sortie de mon septième album Long Time No Sea ! Grâce aux efforts conjugués d’amis auteurs-compositeurs et de l’excellent label Another Record, une excitante tournée française se profile bel et bien pour le mois de Février.
Il reste encore quelques trous à combler, alors nous récoltons encore tout plan/proposition/idée afin de multiplier les chances de performances et ainsi maximiser ce pèlerinage musical. Si vous connaissez une association qui organise des concerts dans des bars, appartements ou parkings souterrains dans les villes spécifiées ci-dessous, n’hésitez pas à rentrer en contact avec le label ici ou directement avec moi ici. Vous serez recompensés par votre poids en gratitude éternelle.
Merci, et à bientôt sur la route!
Dimanche 29 Janvier – Paris – Mains d’Oeuvres – Showcase Boutiques Sonores, Festival Mofo ’12
Mardi 31 Janvier – Lille – Caf& Diskaire (w/ Sammy Decoster)
Mercredi 1 Février - Liège – Péniche Inside Out (w/ Sammy Decoster)
Jeudi 2 Février – Lille - Peek-A-Boo (w/ Sammy Decoster & Pollyanna)
Vendredi 3 Février – Troyes - Le Bougnard des Pouiles (w/ Sammy Decoster)
Samedi 4 Février - Mulhouse – Le Greffier (w/ Sammy Decoster & Pollyanna)
Vendredi 10 Février – Lyon - La Boulangerie du Prado (w/ Pollyanna)
Samedi 11 Février – St-Etienne – Le Remue-Méninges (w/ Angil & The Hidden Tracks, Pollyanna, Boy)
Jeudi 16 Février - Marseille – Le Lounge (w/ Sammy Decoster, Monsieur Ma et Monsieur Go)
Vendredi 17 Février – Nice - Concert en Appartement (w/ Sammy Decoster)
Samedi 18 Février – Nice - La Zonmé (w/ Sammy Decoster)
Mardi 21 Février - Toulouse - Connexion Café (w/ Odran Trümmel)
Mercredi 22 Février - Bordeaux - El Chicho (w/ Odran Trümmel)
Samedi 25 Février – Tours - Les Joulins (w/ Odran Trümmel)
Dimanche 26 Février – Angers – Un Brin Folk (w/ Sammy Decoster)
Mercredi 29 Février – Nantes - Le Violon Dingue (w/ My North Eye)
Jeudi 1 Mars – Le Havre – Mac Daids (w/ My North Eye, We)
Vendredi 2 Mars – Rouen - Shari Vari (w/ Vandaaver, My North Eye)
Samedi 3 Mars - Tours - Salon Nyctalope (w/ My North Eye)
Dimanche 4 Mars – Caen - Concert Maison
Jeudi 8 mars – Paris – L’International (Soirée French Toast w/Old Mountain Station, Réza)
After a cozy hiatus spent in Montreal writing songs and getting his seventh LP ready to rock, The Keys is about to seriously hit the road and embark in December on his fourth Greyhound-powered solo Tour of the USA, hitting the East Coast and the Midwest big-time to celebrate exciting new material.
In a pre-Christmas haze of excitement, The Keys is coming to your town to deliver the Folk’n'Roll goodies in the form of a brand new album, Long Time No Sea, freshly released by awesome independent French label Another Record.
You shall find below the mad itinerary that will take the singer/songwriter on a 15-day journey having him play every single night of his trip, be it café, club, bar or house show (his trusty ol’ companion and booking agent Boyard Paris sure did a good job.) Some whisper in their beards that after touring his homecountry France (for the first time!) in February 2012, he will be back to continue his tour to promote his new album and hit the beloved South of the USA as well as the West Coast this Spring, but you don’t want to believe in rumours, or do you?
Note that The Keys will be accompanied on his trip by renowned Montreal film-maker Mickaël Artaut who will document his moves, talks, concerts and encounters in order to gather footage for an exciting video about DIY touring and recording.
December 2011
Thursday 1st - Allenstown, NH - Ground Zero (w/ Matt Lindstrom, Amanda McCarthy, Getting Found)
Friday 2rd - Boston, Massachussetts – The Whitehaus (w/ The Meadowlarks, Laura Jorgensen Band, Seth West)
Saturday 3rd - Providence, Rhode Island – Firehouse 13 (w/ Vudu Sister + Reverend Bastien + The Denver Boot)
Sunday 4th - Pawtucket, Rhode Island – News Cafe
Monday 5th - Brooklyn, New York City – Trash Bar
Tuesday 6th - Manhattan, New York City – The Shrine (w/ Leslie Graves + The Ghost Of Arthur James)
Wednesday 7th - Philadephia, Pennsylvania – The Barbary 7.30pm + The Fire (w/ Mia Johnson + Christie Lenee)
Thursday 8th - Baltimore, Maryland – Sidebar Tavern (w/ Sarah Rudy + Beggar’s Ride + Nancy Eddy)
Friday 9th - Wilmington, Delaware – Mojo 13 (w/ Tony Travalini & The Still Lifes, Last Hour Battle)
Saturday 10th - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - The Rock Room (w/ Broken Fences + Jenny Morgan)
Sunday 11th - Columbus, Ohio – Double Happiness (w/ Brian Griffin + Fred Hartel)
Tuesday 13th - Cincinnati, Ohio - Sitwell’s + NorthSide Zen (+ Gigawatson)
Wednesday 14th - Indianapolis - The Melody Inn (w/ Kevin Crafton + Mars Or The Moon)
Thursday 15th - Chicago – Reggies Rock Club (w/ Brown Bag + Sticky Lupree)
Friday 16th - Saginaw - Hamilton Street Pub
Don’t be a stranger and come hang out at a show & hear the new tunes if you can!
Spread the word to your american friends, enemies, family members to come see and hear some Edgy Pop/Folk’n'Roll/Whattyacallit by a stage-frantic piece of a performer!
The Keys’ 7th album Long Time No Sea has been mastered gorgeously by Carl Saff, artworked awesomely by Fräneck and is on his way to get pressed and printed! Exciting French label Another Record picked it up and is going to release it on October 17th !
Lyrics and credits will soon be added to the « Music » section. New song Where Is My Miracle ? now online for your listening pleasure on Myspace!
Extended tours will follow to promote the album, keep your eyes peeled!
You may pre-order your copy right below!
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| The Keys « Long Time No Sea » (AR42) Pressed CD / Self-made Digipack |
Dear listeners,
Victim of classic carribean flakiness, I decided to stop waiting on the lazy Guadeloupe sound engineer who won’t finish mixing the songs for over a year now and just go on and release my 7th album as an EP enhanced with bonus tracks.
Long Time No Sea® will then comprised of 5 « proper » songs being my 2010 tour diary, recorded with new and old friends while travelling in the Us of Hey! and Canada last summer.
The 3 Guadeloupe songs recorded during a 3 months-stay prior in the French West Indies are coming from rough initial mixes, they will be put at the end as a chérie on the cake, .
Mastering is done, some time is still needed for artwork and manufacturing, but hold on, people, it will be worth it !
You can guess how eager I am to get this record out.
1. If Not The Best (Portland)
2. Where Is My Miracle ? (Los Angeles)
3. The End Of Me (Toronto)
4. There Is No Next Time (Cody)
5. I Became Who You Thought I Was (Asheville)
The March of Month (Guadeloupe)
6. Too Dark To Read
7. Next To Nothing
8. More Of The Same
With a backpack full of new and exciting folk’n’ roll songs, i will be carrying Years Are Made Of Seconds™ and my previous records and books of poetry with me on my third Greyhound-powered Solo North America Tour this summer !
Check out the dates on myspace, and I’ll see you soon !
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La besace pleine de nouvelles chansons plus folk’n’ roll que jamais, je devrais repartir cet été pour une nouvelle tournée nord-américaine solitaire sponsorisée par les bus Greyhound pour défendre mes derniers albums au corps à corps !
Je vous invite au passage à consulter mon tout nouveau blog de poésie francophage http://borispaillard.blogspot.com. Hosanna au plus haut des essieux, je viens de terminer dans une euphorie non contenu mon sixième recueil Jamais De La Vie© que vous ne trouverez pas chez tous les mauvais libraires.
Bang the gong, ring the bell: my new record Years Are Made Of Seconds® is available at last !
This The Keys’ 6th self-produced album, released on the 15th of December 2008.
I will celebrate this release with a big North America Tour this summer, accompanied by my talented friend Charlotte Cornfield for a « Catch The Greyhound Bus » again in Montreal !
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For the first time affording myself the services of a “real” studio and a “real” mastering engineer, I blowed the dust off my old saxophone and gathered friends and family around me to record this album. It was recorded between spring and fall 2008, with additional recording sessions in places such as a tiny bedroom in Toulouse, a crowded attic in a Normandy house and a cosy living room in the Southern France countryside.
It’s definitely a family album, with contributions from my father on the accordion, and my mother and father-in-law leading their local church choir. Great help from my good friend and talented Canadian singer/songwriter Charlotte Cornfield on the drums and her brother Joseph on the bass made for a fantastic and solid rhythm section.
I tried once again not to focus on any kind of musical genre and just aimed to create songs that sounded right and lyrics that made sense.The warmth provided by being around friends and family members was contrasted with a definite sense of emergency when writing and recording, pressed by everyone’s schedules. It felt like I had to fit years into seconds. These songs are the result of these gatherings, efforts and attempts to create good music and propose some storytelling with energy in one hand, poetry in the other hand. I hope you’ll enjoy these stories and sounds.
You can order it directly to me, or through Paypal, or get the digital version on Itunes Store. 20 minutes of music, folk / pop / rock / punk you name it for only 10 $ or £ or € plus shipping ! There are full-colour pressed cds and a nice full-colour cellophaned ecopak on recycled paper with a sticker.
It got great reviews, check it out !
Comfort Comes (Us)
“a raw, bizarre and charming album that throws a child-like abandon in the face of overproduced contemporary music”
Wireless Bollinger (Aus)
“this album is its own schizophrenic beast, from acoustic punk power chords to acid jazz horns !”
Oxyfication (Us)
“unique, fearless vocals…The experience is suprisingly satisfying !”
Fazer (Can)
“an endearing voice and a driving passion. Often somber, occasionaly eclectic, a unique set of music !”
Longueur d’Ondes (Fr)
“un parfait album pour attendre le printemps !”
Pop News (Fr)
“ce sympathique album confirme tout le bien que l’on pensait déjà de The Keys”
A Découvrir Absolument (Fr)
“3153600 bonnes raisons d’écouter The Keys cette année”
Twice Fanzine (Fr)
“une bombe folk usant des plus belles harmonies vocales !“
Toxic Pete (Uk)
“fascinating…as brutally honest as it gets…an inspirational album, love it !“
God Is In The Tv (Uk)
“a formidable musical talent conjuring up an extremely accomplished album. It is an absolutely essential listen…”
4 / 5 stars
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Mon nouvel et sixième album Years Are Made Of Seconds®, fièrement autoproduit, est enfin disponible pour le plaisir de vos oreilles. Il est composé de 9 chansons enregistrées majoritairement en studio entre le printemps 2008 et l’automne 2009, et regorge de collaborations fructueuses avec amis et famille.
Vous aurez le plaisir d’y retrouver quelques joviaux membres de la chorale classique amateure de ma mère Marie-Hélène, mon père Yves à l’accordéon, mes amis canadiens Charlotte Cornfield derrière la batterie et son frère Joseph à la basse, le merveilleux multi-instrumentiste belge Fabrice Bihain, et l’exquis Renaud Delebassee au piano, vieux compagnon musical…
J’y joue du saxophone et me tiens responsable de la musique, des textes, des chants et guitares. L’album a été pressé en usine (non gravé) pour la première fois et est disponible sous la forme d’un digipak cellophané avec de belles photos en couleur.
Le projet The Keys est toujours aussi actif ! Je me prépare pour une grande tournée nord-américaine de près de 30 concerts en partie avec ma chère amie et talentueuse Charlotte Cornfield.
Certains ont trouvé ça pas mal apparemment : cf. chroniques ci-dessus.
Earth Is My Only Homeland® is ready at last, available with wonderful silk-screened covers and cds. You’ll find 5 brand new tracks, for a bit more than 12 minutes of rock’n roll.
It would seem to be very convenient for a short car/bike/scooter/boat ride. Its particularly recommended to listen to it whilst
reading : a book, a magazine, poetry, someone’s mind.
doing : the dishes, the crabwallk, yourself a favour
being : at ease, in the groove, in the right place
This album, as some would say, would also be a faithful partner to sing in your shower, dance on your bed and stomp under your office desk. This bad boy is electrical in his guitar, deep and round in his basses, sharp and clear in his snares, he will satisfy the young and old with his sound and meaning. Recent and very serious musicology research has revealed how uncompatible the consumption of this album is with simultaneous tv-watching.
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Le nouvel album Earth Is My Only Homeland® est enfin prêt, disponible avec de magnifiques pochettes et cds sérigraphiés ! Il contient 5 nouveaux titres totalisant un peu plus de 12 minutes de rock’n roll.
Boris Paillard : voix, guitare électrique, saxophone, harmonica / Charlotte Cornfield : batterie / Renaud Delebassee : basse, guitare électrique / Florian Paichard : basse
Il convient parfaitement pour accompagner un court trajet en voiture, en vélo, en trottinette ou en bateau en voile. Il paraît en outre tout à fait approprié..
pour lire : un bouquin, un magazine, un recueil de poésies, dans vos pensées, les lignes de la main.
pour faire : la vaisselle, l’amour, le point sur sa vie, genre, attention, avancer le schmilblik.
pour être : à l’aise, posé, dans le délire.
Aux dires de certains, cet album constituerait aussi un fidèle partenaire pour chanter dans sa douche, danser sur son lit et taper du pied sous son bureau. Electrique dans ses guitares, ronds dans ses basses, claires et grosses dans ses caisses, il ravira petits, moyens et grands, pour le plaisir du son et des sens, pour le bonheur de l’anglais en France. De récentes et très sérieuses etudes musicologiques ont néanmoins mis en exergue le fait qu’il se révèle étrangement incompatible avec une consommation télévisuelle simultanée.
Je jouerai peu cet été pour me consacrer à la création littéraire et musicale et au vagabondage touristique.
Mon prochain album, le 6ème, fut en partie enregistré en mai et juin, avec excitations, exigences et quelques amis, impliquant entre autres accordéon, piano, violon et saxophone… Si les dieux nous bénissent, les enregistrements devraient se clôturer en septembre avec encore au programme percussions et chorales..
