Johanne Blouin is a multi-talented artist whose creative path has been marked by a wealth of diverse experience and learning. The mastery of singing and dedication to her craft, however, did not develop overnight. Born to musical family - her father a noted trombonist, and her mother a singer – Johanne was surrounded from an early age by music. It's no surprise then, that she chose this path.

Lyricist, composer and chanteuse , Blouin's musical reach is broad; she's as comfortable in the pop arena as she is with veteran jazz musicians. However, Johanne didn't actually study singing – she's a natural. As a child, she studied classical dance for a ten-year period at the Royal Academy of Dance, the hallowed London-based institution whose schools are established the world over, including Montreal . She later studied at the Université de Montréal, where she earned a B.A. in Music, and at the prestigious Banff School of Fine Arts, where she studied Musical Theatre.

Regardless of the diversity of her early training, Johanne's first love was clearly singing - and it must be said that she certainly was blessed with a beautiful voice! With this goal in mind, she persevered with keen determination and focus. As her solid career thus far has amply demonstrated, performing and singing are second nature to Johanne Blouin.

It was at age sixteen that Johanne Blouin started appearing regularly on stage, getting to know Québec's bars, theatres and nightclubs, paying her dues. Four years later, her first experience in jazz was as part of the fusion-jazz group Tasman , fronted by pianist François Marcaurelle , in 1978. Blouin also worked extensively as a backing singer at this time, supporting many well-established artists.

It was at this heady time that the now twenty-five year old singer joined the cast of the phenomenally successful Québec musical Starmania , for what would be its Montreal debut. Blouin's clear and powerful voice made waves, and unsurprisingly she found herself in high demand on television as well as in advertising, performing as many as 250 sessions in one year! And this, in addition to solo and back up work. It was the greatest training she could have hoped for, in terms of perfecting her craft.

In June of 1987, she performed, for the first time, “Le P'tit Bonheur” by Félix Leclerc , during the course of a musical evening organized by Radiomutuel. This generated a significant buzz in Québec's music business, which lead, the following year, to her debut album, Merci Félix , her hommage to Félix Leclerc, which enjoyed astounding success, reaching gold, and then platinum sales status, while also helping to bring Leclerc's music to a new generation of listeners.It also received two Félix Awards, at the annuel Gala presented by ADISQ, Québec's equivalent to the National Academy of Recording Arts and its Grammy Awards. (next)