“Jolene & The Gambler”: Annie Blanchard and Maxime Landry sing Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers

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UPDATE DAY

Annie Blanchard and Maxime Landry revive the bond that united Dolly Parton and the late Kenny Rogers by singing their greatest hits. On March 24 and 25, the two friends will take to the stage of the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal in a large-scale show worthy of these two sacred monsters of American country. 

Annie and Maxime officially begin their “Jolene & The Gambler – The country of our idols” in the metropolis and they will be at the Capitole Theater in Quebec on April 2. Around 60 dates are on their agenda over the next 12 months.

In the spotlight, the two ex-Academicians offer the 14 tracks from the album “Jolene & The Gambler”, launched during the most recent edition of the Festival de Saint-Tite, as well as classics by legends of song from here and elsewhere.

“In the same vein as the album, we put the package so that it works on stage, so that it is beautiful, that it sounds and that it looks like Dolly and Kenny,” said Maxime Landry at Agence QMI, recalling that his friendship with Annie was born when Renée Martel brought them together for one of her shows a decade ago. “It clicked between us right away and we said to ourselves that we had to have a show together, because we are complementary on several levels. She sure is my Dolly!”

Elegant like Dolly and Kenny

“We offer a large-scale “show”, we are six musicians on stage, we have a big set, we change costumes and we are chic like Dolly and Kenny. This is the kind of tour I did with “Star Académie”, the big machine. And to offer a “show” with covers that everyone still knows and loves, I can tell you that the party is already set up on the first tune, it's extraordinary.”

The author- Beauceron singer-songwriter believes that the show could even be presented in residence in a venue where tourists flock. “Once the tour is done, the ideal would be to settle somewhere.”

Annie and Maxime also cover classics by country artists like Paul Daraîche, Renée Martel, Willie Nelson and Patrick Norman on stage, in order to cast a wide net, add songs in French and set the stage for their next opus.

At the time of chatting with the 35-year-old artist, he was just in the studio with Annie to record songs for their studio effort “Le country de our idols”, which will be unveiled once again in Saint-Tite and which will include pieces by these other artists who, like Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers, have marked their journey, both personal and artistic.< /p>

Thanks to his company Productions Le Veilleur, Maxime Landry is increasingly a producer and there is no lack of work because he creates his own. “I work hard! It’s my little Beauceron side!” At the same time, he is working on his next album of original compositions, which will be released in early 2024.

“I have songs that are currently sleeping in books at home and I have demos recorded on my phone, I can't put the author in me aside.”