Richard Laviolette


Richard Andrew Laviolette is a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Guelph, Ontario. Exclaim! has described Laviolette as an "old soul", with a voice that "can swing from a delicate whisper to a guttural bark in the same breath". The Record in Kitchener has said Laviolette is on "the cutting edge of the local scene", along with James Gordon's son Geordie Gordon. He has released material under a variety of band names, including Mary Carl, Richard Laviolette and His Black Lungs, Richard Laviolette and the Oil Spills, Richard Laviolette and the Hollow Hooves and "Richard Laviolette and the Glitter Bombs".

Formative years

Laviolette grew up on a small hobby beef farm west of Tara, Ontario. In his youth, he learned to play several instruments, including the mandolin and guitar, from his father, becoming proficient in traditional folk and country mandolin styles. In an interview with the Queen's The Journal, he says his family played an important role in fostering an appreciation for music. Growing up, he did not have much exposure to non-mainstream music, but his family would regularly play music together.
When Laviolette entered high school, he was introduced to musicians that did not receive much mainstream exposure, such as Hayden and Elliott Smith. During his teenage years, he played in several bands throughout the Tara, Chesley and Owen Sound areas of Ontario. Along with Matt Gowan and some of his family members, he formed the band Sharp Pointy Stick, which played a number of high school and bar gigs in the Southwestern Ontario area.
Laviolette attended the University of Guelph with the intention of becoming a teacher.
His debut album was begun in autumn 2003 under the name Mary Carl, while he was still a student at Guelph. Mary Carl, the person whom the band was named after, reportedly resented the name. The album was recorded in the bedroom of friend Adam Scott, with Michelle Dyck contributing additional vocals. Incorporating guitar, cello, harmonica, piano, accordion, and floor tom, Mary Carl was released on April 1, 2005.
His second album, A Little Less Like a Rock, a Little More Like Home, released on Burnt Oak Records in August 2006, reached spot 127 on the campus/community radio airplay charts in November 2006. He followed up with the albums Aging Recycling Plant in 2009 and All of Your Raw Materials in 2010.
He has performed at such music festivals as Pop Montreal and the Hillside Festival. In late September 2007, Laviolette and label-mate Kit Wilson-Yang made a seven-week tour of the United States and Canada.

Discography