Julie Doiron: Best Of 2007

It would seem Julie Doiron's days as a quiet, folky songstress are coming to an end. After six albums of introspective balladry, the New Brunswick native took a decidedly electric turn with her 2007 disc, Woke Myself Up, and practically reinvented herself in the process. Today's Doiron wants to rock.

Woke Myself Up was a reunion of sorts. It brought Doiron back together with her former Eric's Trip bandmates — all of whom played on the disc — but that get-together turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. In the biggest thing to happen in Canadian indie rock since the Broken Socials formed their Scene, the legendary Eric's Trip reformed, toured and gave once-again-bassist Doiron a new lease on life.

"It just felt right, I suppose, maybe because enough time had passed," she reflects. "We really wanted to play together again and it never felt better. This was how I began back in the '90s and so I love playing with Eric's Trip."

This year also found Doiron playing bass for Sackville, New Brunswick's Shotgun & Jaybird. Though the foursome parted ways mid-year, newfound
connections led her to another project that's just getting off the ground.

"Blue Heeler is a band that I play drums in and Dick Morello of Shotgun & Jaybird plays guitar and sings in," Doiron excitedly explains. "It is a killer new rock band and playing drums is my new favourite thing!"

As if playing bass in two bands, drums for another, and guitar for her solo work weren't enough, Doiron has also been busy running a recently resurrected Sappy Records — the label that she started in the early '90s to release hers and Eric's Trip's albums. This year saw the imprint host its second annual Sappy Records Music Festival in Doiron's current home town of Sackville, population: 5,411. A who's-who list in Canadian talent turned up for the celebration and Doiron couldn't have been happier with the results.

"The Sappy Music Festival is really great," she exclaims. "Great for our town of Sackville, fun for the bands [and] very fun and satisfying for us at Sappy. We get to invite bands we love and hang out all weekend with awesome people. This was the second year we did it and it went even better than the first, and the first year was awesome, too."

Success in her numerous bands aside, the past year has also been a banner one for Doiron the solo artist. Woke Myself Up caught on from coast to coast and was successful enough that it allowed her to embark on a handful of tours across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. It also earned a nomination for the Polaris Music Prize, putting it among the 10 best albums in the country.

"I feel great about the new record and I think people seemed to like it too," she modestly remarks. "I've been having a great time touring for this album and I couldn't ask for a better reception."

Julie Doiron's album of the year:
RICK WHITE Memoreaper

George Stroumboulopoulos says:
"If you ask everybody who their favourite bands are, they'll run all of them off and then you say, 'What about Eric's Trip?' They'll say, 'That's my favourite.'"

The following feature is taken from the December 2007 issue of Chart Magazine. To purchase the issue, head on over to the Chart Shop.