Biography

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Uniquely qualified to offer a contemporary, indie-folk take on the time-honoured fiddle-singing tradition, Quebec's Aleksi Campagne offers ten songs, but twenty tracks, with full English and French versions of each song on his debut album, For the Giving. The album showcases Aleksi’s unique approach to fiddle-singing. He composed many of the songs on the fiddle, as opposed to a harmonic instrument like the guitar or piano. Aleksi further pushed the boundaries of both the violin and folk music in this album by creating soundscapes by looping his violin using effect pedals built for guitars. The advance single, "Won't Be Scared," selected as a 2023 Kerrville New Folk Finalist, embodies the broader themes of Aleksi’s debut album, which itself is about all the firsts of growing up–from first loves to first moves, the first steps of your career and even first breakups.

To create the album, Aleksi received both a Canada Council for the Arts and a FACTOR Grant to fund its recording and production. He recorded For the Giving in his childhood home, during the COVID pandemic which affected the creative process immensely. Due to health restrictions, instead of working through arrangements with his band members in person, Aleksi first made demos of each song at home to send to his musicians. Many of the layering that made it into the finished album was made then, like the vocal harmonies, the strings parts, and the whistle solo. Where other artists might have used keys or synths to fill out the sound, Aleksi’s foundational arrangements were made with the sounds he knew best. When it finally came time to record, the producer and the band lived in Aleksi’s childhood home for a month, working safely together to finish the recording. Most recently, Aleksi also received an additional Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Quebec grant to create a video version of the album. As a fiddle-singer, Aleksi’s musical abilities are best understood and appreciated when seen and heard at the same time.

Aleksi’s last year has been a whirlwind. In July, 2022, Aleksi was selected as a Mariposa Folk Festival Emerging Artist. In December, Paul Corby picked his song "Another Day" as a Top Single of 2022. This February, his song "Head Above Water" was named a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. In March, CKUA's Tom Coxworth celebrated him as one of the Top 5 Favourite acts at the Folk Alliance International Conference, alongside acts like The Fretless and Mary Gauthier. At the end of May, Aleksi was the only Canadian finalist to compete in the Kerrville Folk Festival’s Grassy Hill New Folk Competition for Emerging Songwriters. In the fall, the Toronto TV show "Path to Creation" will feature Aleksi and his music in a full episode.

Aleksi grew up immersed in folk music, featured on his late aunt Carmen Campagne’s legendary children’s albums. Since both of his parents are folk musicians, Aleksi spent his summers on the road (often sharing the backseat of the car with his brother, Gabriel, and two guitar cases). At five years old, he began performing alongside his mother, Canadian folk icon Connie Kaldor. To this day, Aleksi loves performing alongside his mother in their family band with Gabriel, lead singer of the bohemian-pop band Les Barricades, and his father, Paul Campagne, member of the French trad band, Hart Rouge. At 19, Aleksi moved to Paris to study under jazz violin legend Didier Lockwood. At 21, Aleksi became the only student to have ever been accepted into the classical violin, the jazz violin and the jazz voice performance programs at McGill University where he had the privilege of studying with jazz saxophone player, Christine Jensen. Aleksi met his bandmates in the McGill performance program and has toured festivals and venues across Canada with them ever since: Stephane Krims (Bass), Aaron Dolman (drums) and Zach Bachand (guitar). By 25, Aleksi had graced the lineups of some of Canada’s most beloved folk festivals—including the Regina Folk Festival, the Canmore Folk Festival, the Northern Lights Festival, and the Live from the Rock Festival, among others.

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