Gary Comeau

Gary Comeau & the Voodoo Allstars Hot and Spicy Louisiana inspired Roots & Blues Take the rhythm of the Maritime Acadian music, season well with Louisiana zydeco blues, add a twist of Highway 61 era Dylan, serve it up with great showmanship, and you’ve got a potent musical cocktail that will have your head spinning and your feet dancing!
- Island Folks Festival

Gary Comeau is a singer-songwriter and musician of unique diversity and talent. Playing a range of instruments including guitar, mandolin, fiddle and piano, he delivers originally crafted, high energy, New Orleans-style rockin' roots and blues.

Although Gary’s own roots are French-Acadian - he was born and raised in Nova Scotia - his soul seems to have taken a long and inspiring detour through Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. While Gary does not consider himself to be a Cajun or zydeco artist per se (“it’s just the vibe that runs through the tunes I write”) he’s probably the most southern-sounding player in town. Steve Newton of The Georgia Straight states, “Vancouver’s roots-music scene has immensely benefited from Comeau’s presence.”

Between 1997 - 2004 Gary released four CD’s. Comeau’s talents have also caught the attention of the film industry with songs like "Marianne", featured in The Paramount Film “Double Jeopardy” (1999) and "I Think About You All the Time” from the film “Wise Guys” (2003).

Gary Comeau & The Voodoo Allstars were asked to participate in The BC Fire Relief Benefit; a joint production of CBC television and radio. They were featured on Holger Peterson’s Saturday Night Blues; a CBC nation-wide blues show out of Edmonton, Alberta and are regulars on the West Coast Festival circuit where their live performances are, more often than not, the showcase highlight.

From 2012 till the present, Gary has been a founding member of the very popular trio group Cannery Row . With fellow bandmates Tim Hearsey - guitars & Chris Nordquist - drums & percussion & featuring songs from all three writers, Cannery Row weaves a cloth in the styles & traditions of the Amercian south with the added spice of being Canadian from the west coast of British Columbia.

Since 2021 Gary has also been featuring his music in another trio group called Gary Comeau & The "Sounds Of New Orleans". This group features mostly Gary's compositions but it does delve into the rich cultural history of New Orleans & Louisiana. Gary's passion for New Orleans piano & with his cajun fiddle never too far away make this trio a fun festive experience indeed. Stay tune for audio & video of this group in the coming months of 2023.....

Gary Comeau surrounds himself with Vancouver talent on Letters From Eve

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JULY 5, 2001

Judging by the quality of players Gary Comeau surrounded himself with on his third and latest CD, Letters From Eve, you’d think the local singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist is seriously well connected. First off, you’ve got drummer Pat Steward and bassist Doug Elliott, that hot-as-hell rhythm combo from the Odds, who play on each of the disc’s 12 tracks. Then there’s guitarist Robbie Steininger, one of the city’s top slide players, lighting up all but one selection, and veteran keyboardist Darryl Havers getting his licks in on piano, accordion, synthesizer, and Hammond B-3. Toss in guest appearances by the likes of Brent Shindell on octave mandolin, Ian McIntyre on banjo, Revellie Nixon on washboard, and resident Yale Hotel jammer Tony Robertson on guitar, and you’ve got one impressive lineup. So when the Straight calls Comeau at his home in South Van, the first question is: did he have to pay big bucks to get these guys, or what?

“Yeah, that’s right,” replies Comeau with a hearty laugh, “I’m full of big bucks!” He’s fibbing, of course. How many local independent roots musicians do you know who are swimming in cash? It turns out that Comeau has just made a lot of talented friends since moving here from the Maritimes in 1972. For instance, he’s been playing with Steward and Elliott for five years, off and on, in a band called the Bigtones. And Steininger—who was introduced to him by another local guitar great, Peter Honychurch—first recorded with Comeau in 1994 on his striking debut CD, The Hunger. “For me,” notes Comeau, “when I figure out what kind of CD I want to do, I know the guys that I want to play on it.”

A native of Nova Scotia, Comeau moved out to Vancouver when he was 17, and has never regretted the migration. “It was kind of like…you know when you’re a teenager and you’re not ready for a steady job, and you don’t really know what you want to do with your life? Somebody suggests to ya, ‘Well geez, why don’t we go across Canada?’ and it’s like, ‘Great idea!’ So we hitchhiked across Canada, and I didn’t go back to Nova Scotia for 14 years. I’ve only been back there once, actually. I just like it out here.”

Vancouver’s roots-music scene has benefited immensely from Comeau’s presence, as he brought with him a strong bond to the traditional music of the Deep South. “I’m French-Acadian,” he says, “and I kinda discovered this connection to Louisiana music about 20 years ago. There’s just a feeling; I guess it’s the rhythm thing that I really, really dig a lot. Actually, I went down to New Orleans a couple of years ago, to the Jazz Heritage Festival that they have there at the end of April, and it was just awesome. They had all the music of the South there—from Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana. I saw this gospel group at the festival that had, like, three singers, and they all were as good or better than Aretha Franklin. It was just unbelievable.”

Although Comeau doesn’t consider himself a Cajun or zydeco artist (“It’s just a vibe that runs through the tunes that I write”), he has taught himself how to play the accordion. That was a lot tougher for him than learning how to play guitar, fiddle, and mandolin. “The accordion is the last instrument of choice,” he says with a chuckle, “and it’s the hardest one. Because everything else is a stringed instrument, and strings are all adaptable—you just kinda figure out where to put your fingers. But playing the piano is very, very difficult. It’s just like switching to saxophone or flute or something.”

Local film buffs may recall seeing Comeau display his fiddle chops in the B.C.–shot thriller Double Jeopardy, which was released in 1999. In a scene set at a New Orleans bar—which was actually a camouflaged version of the Hastings Street hangout Funky Winkerbeans—Comeau and his former group the Stringbenders perform his zydeco-tinged song “Marianne”, while Ashley Judd’s ex-con character has a conversation with the bartender about her picture being posted all over town. The 45-year-old Comeau notes that his main goal right now is to get his music heard wherever the road will take him—which includes the Harrison Festival of the Arts on Sunday (July 8) and the Islands Folk Festival near Duncan later this month (July 20 to 22). And he hopes that in the near future he’ll be playing the real Big Easy, and not just some Downtown Eastside rendition.

“Last summer I did a buncha gigs in England,” he says, “and I’d like to do more [travelling] next year, and really try to play in the South. I just want to go as far as I can and keep playin’ as much as I can, because I love it more now than I ever have.”

Gary Comeau & the Voodoo Allstars is:

Gary Comeau
- vocals, fiddle, mandolin, piano, accordian, guitar

Tim Hearsey
- vocals, guitar

Rob Becker
- vocals, bass

Chris Nordquist
- vocals, drums, percussion

Jerry Cook
- sax

Cannery Row
Gary is also available as part of the trio 'Cannery Row', a West Coast trio who have come together from a range of different musical backgrounds to create an eclectic collection of songs. You will hear the influence of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the blues from Memphis and the Mississippi delta (the land of Chuck Berry), the Latin rhythms of Cuba, and a sprinkle of the early roots of Jazz as the trio performs songs from their self-titled album.

Cannery Row is:

Gary Comeau
- piano, fiddle, accordion, mandolin, guitar, banjo, vocals

Tim Hearsey
- slide/acoustic guitar, banjo, vocals

Chris Nordquist
- drums, percussion, washboard, vocals