Originally hailing from the mystical community of Penny, nestled in the Rocky Mountains on the banks of the Fraser River in Northern BC, Dawn Boudreau draws from this earthy upbringing in her music creation. Although educated in jazz studies, this artist cannot deny her deep-seated folk influences. The mountains, river and railway are almost audible in her instrumental selections, utilizing mandolin, violin, flute, pedal steel, accordion and electric acoustic guitar, as well as the more traditional jazz choices, such as saxophones, upright acoustic bass and her own instrument of preference, piano. Jazz was a later adoption for this singer-songwriter, since she had a musically sheltered youth, centering mainly around the charismatic church and “worship” music. As she inched toward her 30s, she began dabbling in musical theatre, as well as jazz, and started seeing that many jazz standards were originally musical theatre show tunes. Many of her own compositions also have a theatrical flair, as she crafts narratives around her love relationships, both successful and tumultuous, and raising her 3 children, now adults. Boudreau began utilizing songwriting as a therapeutic outlet in her 30s, following her divorce after an 11 year marriage. Single motherhood kept her busy, even though she had romances along the way that fueled the music writing machine. As she began teaching voice and piano in Prince George in 2003, she found her passion in this career and even drew inspiration from her students and the friendships she developed through this work. She sought out performance opportunities whenever she could, and in 2005, a recording of a live performance started her on the journey to her first CD, Tinge of Tangerine (2006). This recording of 12 original songs was an enormous learning process for Boudreau. She was helped greatly by the more experienced artists around her in the Prince George community. She still carries deep gratitude for this “village” that helped her in her early days. She went on to produce two more CDs, one of jazz standard love songs, Love, from the Piano Bar (2008), with pianist David Sproule, and one EP Sweet Free Little Things (2011), both with Moko Productions, the studio that engineered her first album. Boudreau kept her local performances going and gained popularity as a provider of background music. She became a sought-after pianist/singer for large and small events, sometimes touring to the neighbouring communities of Quesnel, Burns Lake and McBride. Her local celebrity also allowed her the opportunity to open for juno winner Divine Brown in 2009. Later in 2011, she recorded a short run of holiday CDs, produced at Cheslatta Records, another Prince George recording studio. This mix of winter themed covers and originals she called Under the Solstice Sun, an indication of her non-traditional beliefs to which she had eventually come through her education and life experiences. Once all 3 children were finished high school in 2012, Boudreau relocated to beautiful, busy Vancouver, BC, where she commenced jazz studies at Capilano University. Studying jazz at the age of 40 was rewarding, fulfilling, overwhelming and deflating, as she realized that what she had been passing off as jazz for so many years, was more of a combination of folk and jazz pop. She stuck with it, obtaining her Bachelor of Music, but focussed mainly on teaching following her graduation. It took her 3 years and the loss of a young friend in a car accident to jolt this full-time teacher of private music lessons back into the music production world. She’s overjoyed to be back in the recording studio, recording her new CD at Monarch Studios in East Vancouver. The project has allowed her to utilize many of her newer talented Vancouver colleagues and the recording process has inspired her to write new music, so look forward to more albums in the future!