Mara Tremblay - Tu m'intimides 2009

Born in Hauterive, Québec, on the very day that man first walked on the moon (July 21, 1969), Mara Tremblay spent her early childhood near the St. Lawrence, breathing in the fresh air of the North Shore and the sound of her father's guitar and violin. When she was five, Mara moved to Montréal and attended école Le Plateau, where she took violin lessons. At the age of nine, she caused a sensation when she stood as the Rhinoceros Party candidate in the Rosemont riding.

Over the years, Mara sang in various choirs including the Orchestre métropolitain de Montréal chorus; she also played a role in the 1982 movie La couleur encerclée directed by Serge and Jean Gagné. As a teenager, she travelled to Tunisia and spent a year in Burkina Faso with her parents. When her violin cracked due to the excessively dry climate in Ouagadougou, she abandoned her favourite instrument in favour of the bass…

In 1989 and 1990, she took part with her uncle JAT in l’Empire des futures stars and was spotted by the singer from the rock band Lard Bedaine. Shortly afterwards, she joined the group, which she would later describe as a "rock school". From 1991 to 1993, Mara also played bass with Les Maringouins, well-known for their versions of La Bolduc songs.

On Valentine's Day 1993, Mara received a call from Dédé Fortin asking her to play the violin for the launch of the first album by Les Colocs. To the delight of everyone, she took up the instrument again and joined the group. Shortly afterwards, Les Colocs opened the ADISQ Gala to wild acclaim. That was the evening when a lady by the name of Nanette Workman noticed Mara and invited her to join her "Rock et Romance" tour… From then on, things happened fast: Mara also joined Les Frères à Ch’val, an adventure that lasted three years, and collaborated very successfully with a number of people, including Mononc’ Serge and Lhasa de Sela. It was during this period that her first child, Victor, was born (1996).

Soon afterwards, Patrice Duchesne of Les Disques Audiogram asked Mara to prepare her first solo album. In 1999, Le Chihuahua, produced jointly with Fred Fortin, Olivier Langevin and François Lalonde, took Québec by storm. On Radio-Canada, Marie-Christine Blais described it as a "mixture of PJ Harvey and La Bolduc". Defying classification, Le Chihuahua went on to win 9 ADISQ nominations, received the Félix for Best Video Clip for "Le teint de Linda" (produced by Robin Aubert), the Félix for Alternative Album of the Year, and the Félix for Best Album Cover, which was designed by none other than Mara herself.

Winner of the Prix Félix-Leclerc in 2000, Mara Tremblay performed live at many different events: Festival d’été de Québec, Coup de cœur francophone, Les FrancoFolies, Le Printemps de Bourges, and finally, for a week at Les Sentiers des Halles in Paris.

After more than two years of touring and songwriting, in 2001 Mara issued Papillons, which she produced jointly with Olivier Langevin and Pierre Girard. In case anyone was still in doubt, this album proved that Mara was a key player on the Québec music scene; among other awards, the disc earned her the SOCAN award at the MIMI gala for Song of the Year, for "Les Aurores". Next came the "Tout Nue" tour, which took Mara all over Québec, followed by an acclaimed performance at Les FrancoFolies de Montréal in 2002, in a tribute to Gilbert Bécaud organized by Monique Giroux. The same year, Mara appeared in the Robin Aubert movie Cadillac clown. Her second son Édouard was born, and she recorded stories and songs on the children's album Le chat musicien (La Montagne secrète).

In 2004, Mara ended her "Tout Nue" tour and also left Fanfare Pourpour. She had worked with the group since 2001 but her schedule was now too full. That year, she recorded a duo with Vincent Vallières for the title track of his album Chacun dans son espace, and was also featured on the album Daniel Grenier et Les guerriers de la lumière. Mara then immersed herself in writing for a year, in preparation for her third album.

Les nouvelles lunes was issued in April 2005. This was another album produced jointly with Pierre Girard and Olivier Langevin, and it included several gems such as "Grande est la vie" and "Poussières". Mara also took part in the "Pamplemousse" fundraising project (JaJou productions) in aid of suicide prevention, performing Jean Leloup's song "Laura". Collaborating with various different artistes, she sang L’amour fait mal, an adaptation of Love Hurts, with Éric Goulet (Monsieur Mono), and on the Beau D’Hommage album, performing the song "23 Décembre" with Vincent Vallières. Another of Mara Tremblay's acclaimed duo performances was with Stefie Shock, performing the classic "L’été indien" on the Joe Dassin tribute album Salut Joe!

In the last few years, Mara Tremblay has often been on the road again for a successful solo tour or the "Toutes les filles" tour, on which she performed live with performers who were already, or would become, close friends: Catherine Durand, Marie-Annick Lépine, Catherine Major and Ginette. These productive experiences and her appearance in Quai no 5, at the Festival international de la littérature in 2007, reciting or singing the poetry of Élise Turcotte, paved the way for an impressive fourth album, testimony to Mara's talent for constantly reinventing herself. Tu m’intimides, produced by Olivier Langevin and co-produced by Mara and Pierre Girard, was released in January 2009. Info Audiogram.

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