Richard Laviolette

In the fall of 2003, I began working on the release of my first album under the name Mary Carl. Although I recorded most of it by myself with the warm, warm, earthly vocals of Michelle Dyck, I released the album with a full band on April 1, 2005 at the Jimmy Jazz in Guelph, ON. It was completed over the duration of a year and a half, recorded in the bedroom of good friend, Adam Scott. Adam and Michelle along with David Mallery and Rob Fillo joined Richard to make up the full band. Ironically, the CD release party would be our last full-band show.

Initiated by a solo tour in november of 2005 with Chris Yang, and again in February 2006 with Yang and Ryan Newell, I became increasingly involved with the burnt oak music community in guelph, on. Having toured with newell and yang, it became increasingly apparent to me that these were folks i wanted to work with. In august 2006, i went ahead and released "A little less like a rock, a little more like home" on burnt oak. With the help of Steve Hamilton and Bam studios, several local guelph artists, as well as several of my family members, I was able to able to make something that began to reflect the strength of the community, and not simply my musicianship.