Maurice St-jacques still playing to the beat of his own drum
Well known to the many music fans who have seen him perform at the Burrough’s Falls dance hall during the country music appreciation jams, Maurice Stjacques is a drummer by choice, but he doesn’t mind playing his harmonica or the accordion when he has a chance.
Whether he is jamming with a band or not, you’ll see him go up again and play his accordion to entertain people during the intermission or at any given time. They love it and always ask for more. The man loves country music and has a special affection for our Quebec folk music.
St-jacques has always been the life of the party and pleasing music fans has always been one of his great pleasures in life. Like all the other musicians, this pandemic has put a halt to his activities, but if you go by his house, you might still hear him play his accordion on the deck or inside with the windows wide open.
Playing is something he does at any gathering; he loves music and needs it as much as the air he breathes. He is an entertainer, and he has always found himself comfortable on a stage.
Born in Sherbrooke, St-jacques was raised with three brothers and two sisters in a family who loved music. On his father’s side everybody could play an instrument, mainly fiddle. According to him the many family parties, where music was a must, served as the influence that made him want to be a musician.
“My father wanted us to learn how to play music so he bought an accordion, a guitar and a fiddle with the hope that we would pick it up. I was six. My late brother Normand and I learned to play accordion, but we were not interested in learning guitar or fiddle” he shared.
One of St-jacques’ uncles played
drums and it inspired the young boy to want to learn. He explained how he saved his money and bought his first drum, hoping he would be good at it. Indeed, he had found his instrument of choice and was good at it so he decided he would have a musical career.
“I was determined to learn, and I did. By the time I turned 14, I formed my first band called the Rock’n’roll Kids,” he reflected. “We played everywhere in the Townships. I remember that we played in a hall in Coaticook alternately with Levis Bouliane and his band. They played one set and we’d play the following. We were young, we had fun and this would be the start of a long career in music. The band included my friends Jean-guy Drouin, Gerard and Lucien Jeanson and Armand Caroll.”
After that first group, St-jacques went and played with The Midnighters for a while and soon after he ended-up with the band The Colibris. The band got a contract for their own show on CHLT radio. The show was broadcast live at seven in the morning, so they had to set-up very early. He has fond memories of that time.
He then went on the road with Quebec singer Jacques Michel for four years, then played with local Tigars Plante. Eventually he started playing with The Corvair Combo. He performed any musical genres from jazz and international music to Latin, pop and country.
“I have played with many musicians all over the province of Quebec. I’ve tackled many musical styles and I think that my eclectic taste and my versatility are the reasons why I never lacked any work. For a good part of my life, I earned my living playing music” explained St-jacques.
He recalled playing at the popular Beausite in Deauville, the Auberge des Pins, the New Magog, in Magog and at the Flamingo (New Wellington Hotel). He has also played with Edna Desrobert (Sister Edna) a talented singer and stand-up comic who performed every weekend dressed as a nun.
He also played with the well-known Jamaican singer Gene Cooper for years. Cooper who also played the organ, was very much in demand on the bar circuit. That gig lasted for many years until St-jacques started playing at Hotel Union, in Sherbrooke.
“When I decided to team up with J.P. Coté, Mario Bilodeau and Michel St-pierre, it was a change of repertoire since we decided to specialize in country music. I had never had the occasion to play country music really but it had always been the music that touched my heart and soul. I loved every minute of playing with that band. We also played a lot at Grange Albert in Ascot Corner where the public were country music fans” he said.
St-jacques, who still plays today every chance he gets, said that sadly technology kind of made it harder for full piece bands to find work.
“We had the best era as musicians when we could find jobs very easily. We were barely done with a gig that already we had something else booked. Actually we were booked months in advance. Maybe bands stayed together longer and maybe people went out to listen to music a lot more” he commented about the situation, with fewer places to play and less pay, that musicians go through today.
Only his late brother Robert followed in his footsteps and became a drummer as well. St-jacques has two sons and both are good drummers as well, but they have never been interested in being entertainers. They strictly play for their own pleasure.
“I think that in order to become
a musician, you need a certain sensitivity to understand what the notes are trying to say, and you also need to have a very good ear. Music is simply in you I believe, you just have to realize it. I grew up surrounded by music and all the family parties we had just prompt my desire to learn and play” he explained.
Parallel to his musical career, Stjacques worked twenty years as the technical service director for the Ascot municipality, a job that he enjoyed tremendously but it didn’t stop him from playing music.
“I love Alan Jackson and Willie Nelson; I find them inspiring. I was always a musician and I’ll go on playing forever. These days I play accordion and harmonica more than my drums, but I have music burning in me!” he shared.
I guess this conversation could go on and on because it is clear that Stjacques has so many fond memories of his life of music. If you want to talk music, he is the man you’re looking for!