Julie Doiron

Biography

Julie Elaine Doiron (born June 28, 1972) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian heritage. She has been the bassist and co-vocalist for the Canadian indie rock band Eric's Trip since its formation in 1990. Doiron has also released ten solo albums, beginning with 1996's Broken Girl, and is also the lead singer for the band Julie and the Wrong Guys.

Early life

Julie Elaine Doiron was born in Moncton, New Brunswick. She graduated from École Mathieu-Martin, a francophone high school in Dieppe, in 1990.

Career

Doiron started playing guitar (later switching to bass) in Eric's Trip at the age of 18, having joined the band at the insistence of her then-boyfriend, Eric's Trip guitarist Rick White. Shortly before the band's break-up in 1996, she released a solo album under the name Broken Girl, which followed two previous 7-inch EPs ("Dog Love, Pt. 2" & "Nora") also released under that name. All of her subsequent material has been released under her own name. She started her own label, Sappy Records, to release several of her solo efforts. Although most of her solo material has been written and performed in English, she also released an album of French language material, Désormais×Désormais9 August 2001 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Ce charmant cœur2:162La jeune amoureuse3:213Faites de beaux rêves1:584Don't Ask3:285Le piano4:336Tu es malades3:037Au contraire3:118Pour toujours4:569Penses-donc (Tu es seule)1:5510Faites de beaux rêves2:16, as well as several EPs of material sung in Spanish.

In 1999, Doiron performed at the 1999 Stardust Picnic festival at Historic Fort York, Toronto. That year she recorded an album with the Ottawa band Wooden Stars, which was the first time she had worked with a band since the end of Eric's Trip. Also in 1999, she was featured in a film, entitled Salt, which was filmed that fall. The film was created by the National Film Board of Canada, and released in 2000. She shared a Juno Award for Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars in March 2000.
Eric's Trip reunited in 2001, and have played shows periodically ever since. She has also appeared as a guest musician on albums by The Tragically Hip (2000s Music at Work), Gordon Downie (2001's Coke Machine Glow, 2003's Battle of the Nudes and 2010's The Grand Bounce), and Herman Düne. In 2006 she helped launch SappyFest with Paul Henderson and Jon Claytor as an extension of the reinstated Sappy Records. She has also released a split record co-credited to the alternative country band Okkervil River, and collaborated with Frederick Squire and American musician Phil Elverum on the 2008 Mount Eerie album Lost Wisdom×Lost Wisdom7 October 2008 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Lost Wisdom4:142Voice in Headphones2:153You Swan, Go On1:244Who?2:235Flaming Home2:286What?2:067If We Knew…1:378With My Hands Out1:389O My Heart3:1710Grave Robbers1:47. She played with indie rock band Shotgun & Jaybird until their demise in 2007. She also played drums as part of a short-lived duo with Fred Squire. Initially called "Blue Heeler", they changed their name to "Calm Down Its Monday", and released a split 7-inch EP on K Records, with two solo Doiron songs on the flip side.
Apart from her musical career, Doiron is an avid photographer, having published a book of her photographs entitled The Longest Winter with words by Ottawa writer Ian Roy. She often does her own promotional photos and cover artwork along with her ex-husband, painter Jon Claytor.
Her album Woke Myself Up×Woke Myself Up23 January 2007 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1I Woke Myself Up2:452You Look So Alive1:463Swan Pond2:254Yer Kids2:335I Left Town2:426No More2:157Don’t Wanna Be/Liked by You2:538Dark Horse3:229The Wrong Guy3:3610Me and My Friend2:4611[untitled]2:54 was shortlisted for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize.
In 2009, Doiron told a reporter from The Strand, a college newspaper at the University of Toronto, that she and Chad VanGaalen were exploring the possibility of collaborating on an album. She appeared on a track from VanGaalen's EP of Soft Airplane B-sides that year, but no further news pertaining to a potential album collaboration has been released.
During the tour to support the 2009 album I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day×I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day10 March 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1The Life of Dreams1:362Spill Yer Lungs4:293Lovers of the World1:564Tailor2:345Heavy Snow3:006Nice to Come Home1:387Consolation Prize2:028Je le savais3:369When Brakes Get Wet1:4710Borrowed Minivans2:4411Blue3:4812Glad to Be Alive2:04, the mayor of Bruno, Saskatchewan proclaimed June 7, 2009, as "Julie Doiron Day". Doiron performed at the local All Citizens arts centre on that day.
Over the three-year period between I Can Wonder and her 2012 album So Many Days×So Many Days23 October 2012 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Cars and Trucks2By The Lake3Can’t Take It No More4Another Second Chance5Our Love6Where Are You7The Only8I Thought I Could Do It9The Gambler10Beneath The Leaves11Homeless12Last Night I Lay In Bed, Doiron moved several times, residing at different times in Montreal, Toronto and Sackville. While living in Toronto, she had difficulty making ends meet due to the city's high cost of living, and began teaching yoga classes, and performing a weekly residency at the Saving Gigi club, to help pay the bills. By the time So Many Days was released in the fall of 2012, she had moved back to Sackville.
In July 2014, Doiron's song "The Life of Dreams", from I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day, appeared in an iPhone commercial.
In 2016, Doiron collaborated with musicians Jon McKiel, C.L. McLaughlin, Michael C. Duguay, James Anderson and Chris Meaney on the project Weird Lines, whose self-titled album was released on Sappy Futures in July. She then collaborated with Eamon McGrath, Mike Peters and Jaye Schwarzer on the project Julie and the Wrong Guys, which released a self-titled album in 2017 on Dine Alone Records. In 2017 and 2018, Doiron has also released several EPs of Spanish language renditions of her own previously recorded songs.
In 2021, Doiron released the album I Thought of You×I Thought of You26 November 2021 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1You Gave Me the Key2:472Thought of You2:463Dreamed I Was2:294Just When I Thought3:455Et Mon Amour3:196Good Reason3:327Cancel the Party1:518How Can We3:009Darkness to Light3:0710Ran4:0411The Letters We Sent5:0212They Wanted Me to Say3:0913Back to the Water1:58. Her first full-length solo recording in nine years, it includes musical contributions from Daniel Romano and Dany Placard. The song "August 10" from Broken Girl became popular on TikTok in late 2024 and early 2025, leading to the song reaching number 12 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart on January 16, 2025. In February 2025, the Numero Group announced a campaign to reissue Broken Girl on vinyl for the first time and Loneliest In The Morning back in print for the first time since its initial release cycle in the 90s. The Numero Group also announced that Doiron would be joining the line up for the Numero 22 anniversary show in April 2025.

Personal life

Doiron has moved several times throughout her career, living in Montreal for six years until moving to Sackville in 2004 with the release of Goodnight Nobody. When she was married to Jon Claytor, they had three children. As of 2022, Doiron was in a relationship with Quebec-based musician Dany Placard, with whom she released a collaborative album Julie & Dany×Julie & Dany29 April 2022 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Dégèle2:402What If I Said2:583Lying3:174Tomate1:505Back to the Water2:236Mayo3:087I Remember Being Home3:198Too Late2:499Jean‐Talon Market3:1610Vénus3:1911My Brain1:56 that year.