Fournier´s songwriting wins acclaim

And now, its been announced that the Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter, composer, and music educator has received special recognition for three of the songs off her latest album, titled The Gift, from the 2018 Songdoor International Songwriting Competition.

According to www.songdoor.com, the competition started in 2006 "so that people who really care about the craft of songwriting could have a place to get their music heard, have an honestly good chance of getting some credible recognition for their work, and end up with something tangible for their effort."

Fournier - who grew up in St. Boniface and Windsor Park, and currently lives in West Kildonan -received honourable mentions deserving special recognition for her songs Love Will Never Let You Down and Goodbye Hello, and an honorable mention for her song The Right Way.

While Fournier has been a fixture on the local music scene for some time - her extensive resume includes associations with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the World Village Gospel Choir, Camerata Nova, and the Wyrd Sisters - The Gift is her first solo album.  

Described as a unique fusion of folk, blues, jazz, and funk, Fourier teamed up with award-winning producer Don Benedictson and award-winning musicians Murray Pulver, Daniel Roy, her brother Gilles Fournier, and Marc Arnould - otherwise known as the band Ego Spank - to lay down the 10-track album of original compositions.

Noting that making solo album has always been a big dream of hers, Fournier said there are still enough songs that don´t feature on The Gift to make another album.  

“It´s all original material, which has been written over a span of 20 years,” Fournier, 56 said. “Its been a long time coming.”

Having been a member of the Wyrd Sisters for more than seven years, Fournier - who has both a bachelor of arts in music and an education degree specializing in music, and is currently a teacher at West St. Paul School - then stopped touring and recording with the group, and decided to take a break from the music scene, as she began teaching more and more to make ends meet.

"I wanted to just walk away for a bit, and all of sudden 20 years went by," she said, with a laugh.

However, Fournier let go of her musical roots, and after bumping into producer Benedictson, she asked him if he’d be interested in listening to her solo material and producing it.

“He was like, yeah, we´re going to make this happen,” she said.

And the resulting album has left Fournier with a body of work she´s proud of.

'Its feels pretty amazing. I knew after what we did in pre-production, it was going to be a good album, and I loved working Don and Ego Spank, which includes my brother, Gilles. These guys are amazing and super fun to work with, as well as being creative geniuses. And I´m so happy to hear my songs come to fruition, finally.'

The album is available for purchase on Fournier´s website. Go online at liannefournier.ca for more information.