Erik Mongrain

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Erik Mongrain

Background information
Birth name Erik Mongrain
Born Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genre(s) Jazz, New Wave, New Age
Occupation(s) Guitarist, composer
Instrument(s) Acoustic Guitar
Years active 2001 -
Label(s) Prophase Music and Music Video Distributors
Website www.erikmongrain.com
Lap-Tapping technique by Erik Mongrain.
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Erik Mongrain featuring on 2007 Guild catalog.
Erik Mongrain featuring on 2007 Guild catalog.
Concert in Montreal (2006).
Concert in Montreal (2006).

Erik Mongrain (born April 12, 1980 in Montreal, Québec, Canada) is a Canadian composer and guitarist, best known for his unique acoustic style, and his use of a two-handed lap tapping technique on the acoustic guitar.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Erik Mongrain taught himself guitar at the age of 14. As a boy he was mostly interested in sports, but picked up an interest in the guitar and began to teach himself to play by ear. Erik started out playing the electric guitar, but developed an interest in classical and acoustic guitar after hearing the work of Johann Sebastian Bach. Erik taught himself to read music, and began composing.

Erik Mongrain was inspired early on by the work of Metallica, Jimi Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain. When he was 18, Erik heard the work of guitarist Don Ross, and he said "This was a new revelation to me. I finally found my niche."[1] After that, Erik was heavily influenced by the work of Michael Hedges. Erik also began to experiment with a technique known as lap tapping, in which the player lays the guitar across their lap, and taps the strings on the fret board with both hands.

[edit] Current work

Erik Mongrain plays live shows in the United States, Canada, and England. He started out with street shows, and continues to play street and metro shows, as well as shows at concert venues and on television. Erik's music is going to be featured in a documentary produced by Lance Trumbull for the Everest Peace Project. He was recently featured on the cover of Guild Guitar Company Magazine.[2] Erik was featured in Le Journal de Montréal[3] and was written about in the Granada spanish journal. They wrote :

"the visitor (to Grenada) ... discovers rather good musicians, sometimes brilliant, who makes a pure delight of the city... Erik Mongrain, 21 years old, is one of them... The young interpreter does not play in a habitual manner but rather lays the guitar on his knees like a keyboard ... before discovering this new method, known under the name of "tapping", he studied classical guitar on his own"[4]

Erik released his first full-length album, Fates, in December of 2006 on his website as a series of individually buyable/downloadable songs. The physical CD will be released in June of 2007 (May for Japan).

In 2007, Mongrain went on a tour around the world, particuliary in Europe, Asia and America. He performed also at the famous Montreal International Jazz Festival and at the "Studio-théâtre" of the Place des Arts of Montréal where the live performance was recorded.[5] Mongrain was invited for the premiere of the « World Music Heritage », a drive by Gontiti on the national Japanese network (NHK). The broadcast started last May 2007 and the footage used for the broadcast is filmed in Montreal's streets and in Saint Joseph's Oratory, reputed for its acoustics.

In 2008, Mongrain is planning other live performances around Europe and America. Also the iVideoSongs company have filmed four clips, such as Equilibrium, his latest composition. The clips are tutorials of Mongrain's lap tapping style, downloadable on the company's Web site.[6]

[edit] Discography

  • Fates (2007)
  • Un paradis quelque part (2005)
  • Les pourris de talent (2005)

[edit] Media

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Biography on the official Website
  2. ^ Mongrain on the Guild guitar company magazine's cover
  3. ^ Le Journal de Montréal
  4. ^ Granada journal
  5. ^ Live performances on stage
  6. ^ iVideoSongs - Mongrain's tutorial

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Persondata
NAME Mongrain, Erik
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Canadian musician guitarist composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Montreal, Quebec, Canada
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH