One of those come from outta nowhere acts that make you sit up and take notice ...and he's got a voice as big as all outdoors. - Doug Gallant, The Guardian

Joe’s musical education came from stealing songs and stories from the many road-worn acts that, week after week, rolled through the local beer joint his family ran in northern Ontario. Every night he'd fall asleep to the sound of country music filtering up through the floorboards and every morning a new Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash or Creedence Clearwater Revival tune would be stuck in his head. It's bound to have an effect on a kid. 

 His first appearance was at his parent's hotel, at age 12, filling in for the hired act who was too drunk to play. The people ate it up - plus it paid 25 bucks and all the soda he could handle. Joe was hooked. He soon found himself making good money playing traditional and current (late 70's) country in local bands every weekend and the next 20 years were spent off and on the road. Punk, pop, rockabilly, polka, blues, new country, old country, whatever... Joe played it all. Sometimes it was guitar, sometimes it was bass or drums.  He met his first wife while playing the part of Ringo in a Beatles tribute band! All the while Joe was learning about songs. How to write 'em and to record 'em. 

 A move in the early part of 2001 to Nova Scotia was, in many ways, the start of Joe Fournier's current career. After having exhausted his creativity and enthusiasm in Ontario, Joe decided that the east coast was where to recharge. Together with his girlfriend, they bought a little shack by the ocean and proceeded to rebuild it into a living/studio space. The idea was to open a cafe and forget about music for a while. 

 It was while bangin' and sawin' that he started getting ideas for the kind of songs he'd never written before. Songs that drew on his country roots, personal experiences and crazy characters met while gigging and traveling all those years.  In no time there was enough material to fill two albums. By January 2002, at age 41, Joe had recorded his first CD and sent it out into the world. In no time flat he was fielding calls from publishers and managers from Sweden to Nashville. 

 Joe received rave reviews for Raw Sugar Shed, released in the summer of 2002. The next 12 months were spent touring around Canada, England and Sweden to enthusiastic crowds. He showcased on three stages at the 2003 East Coast Music Awards and received MIANS nominations for best songwriter, best male vocalist and best country/roots album. In London he was invited to perform at the famed Borderline with Sarah Harmer and Josh Ritter as part of their Americana festival. Joe also appeared in May at Canada's National Arts Centre where they hosted the Atlantic Scene festival and shared stages throughout the year with the likes of Fred Eaglesmith, Tom Russell, Robbie Fulks, and A3 to name a few. 

 Whiskey Stars came out in Europe in 2003 and Canada/US in 2004. More critical success followed and plans for the cafe once again got put on hold. After appearing as part of a four piece band for a year, a budget tour of Europe forced Joe to try his hand at a solo show. Suddenly it really came together. There was space to rant, rave and tell stories. His dynamic acoustic style really came to the forefront and audiences were thrilled. 

 Joe still plays the first real acoustic his folks bought him in 1972 - a 30+ year old beat up Yamaha with many stories scratched and worn into it's surfaces. You can hear it all over his next CD - Three Chord MacGyver.

 The new disc was written and recorded over a period of two weeks in his kitchen and shouldn't be a disappointment to fans of his "music with dirt under it's fingernails" style. The 12 new songs come as close to a live Joe show as you can get. It'll be available later this year, but preview copies are already being sent out.