In
the last twelve years J.P. Cormier has lived more music and life on the
road than most other musicians experience in a lifetime. Along the way
he has won the respect of singers and musicians wherever he plays, as well
as winning dozens of guitar, fiddle, and banjo competitions.
J.P. started playing guitar at the age of five to accompany his dad, who played the fiddle. Although his family was living in London, Ontario, having moved their from their native Cape Breton, J.P. quickly became immersed in the rich music of Cape Breton and all its Celtic roots. At the age of twelve, after his family had moved back to Cape Breton, he began to play bluegrass guitar. Two years later he recorded his first album of guitar instrumentals.
When he was sixteen, J.P. started playing the fiddle. He also moved to the southern U.S. and started a successful career as a country sideman, sharing the stage with some of country music’s most respected names, including Travis Tritt, Hal Ketchum, Pam Tillis, and Mark O’Connor.
While living in Nashville, J.P. and his wife, noted traditional piano player Hilda Chiasson Cormier, recorded "Return To The Cape," an album of Cape Breton fiddle music. This need to express who he is musically led to J.P. and Hilda moving back to Cape Breton. Going "home" enabled J.P. to further his own songwriting and concentrate on the music he grew up with.
Since returning to Cape Breton, J.P. has been a staple on the East coast music scene. In between gigs and recording, he has written a number of songs that reflect his Cape Breton roots. And most recently, he was nominated "Instrumental Artist of the Year" at the East Coast Music Awards (1997).
J.P.completed a new recording last year which was released on Borealis. "Another Morning" features a dozen of J.P.’s songs as well as two instrumental tracks featuring his amazing fiddle and guitar playing. The project was produced by Paul Mills, a.k.a. Curly Boy Stubbs, and Bill Garrett. After hearing J.P. perform the first time Paul said, “Is there anything this guy doesn’t do well?”.
J.P.s latest effort is a stunning instrumental set called "Heart & Soul". It really shows off this virtuoso's mastery of fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo.
1999 will see J.P. Cormier playing numerous festivals and concerts across Canada, Scotland, Denmark, and the United States.
Heart And Soul
Borealis
Heart and Soul
CD $18.00 ON SALE AGAIN SEPTEMEBER 8, 2003
1. Alan’s Set
2. Martin’s Set
3. Kenny Baker Lives!
4. Christie Married a Frenchman 
5. Fleetwood MacInnis
6. Aren’t We Feeling "Jiggy" Today
7. Paps Goes the Weasel
8. Rawhide
9. Me & Gelas
10. Scotty Meets Rene
11. My Bach is Worse Than My Bite
12. Tulloch Gorum (a.k.a. Broken Fingers)
13. May I Have This Dance
14. Here’s To You, Scotty
15. The B Minor Set
16. Banjomusk
Borealis
Another Morning
CD $18.00 ON SALE AGAIN SEPTEMEBER 8, 2003
1. Another Morning
2. Kelly’s Mountain
3. Highland Dream
4. Gone
5. The Island
6. Fiddle Set
7. You Saw Me
8. Hell Freezin’ Over
9. Blackbird
10. Molly May
11. My Life Is Over…Again
12. The Mathematician / Sleepy Maggie
13. Long For the sea
14. Gilgarry’s Glen
Return To The Cape
Borealis
Return to the Cape
CD $18.00 ON SALE AGAIN SEPTEMEBER 8, 2003
1. The Haggis, Caber Feidth
2. Cowie’s Clog, Winston Tune
3. Jerry Sullivan’s Strathspey, Tammy Sullivan’s Reel
4. Flannigans’s Favourite, Ole French Reel, Kelly’s Reel
5. Slow Air, Moving Cloud
6. Horseshoe Reel, Winter Carnival Reel, Pigeon On the Gate
7. Hilda-Chiasson-Cormier’s Reel, Temperance Reel
8. Shetland Hornpipe. The E Flat Tune
9. Holland Wedding Reel, Stool of Repentance, Sleepy Maggie
10. Niel Gow’s Lament For Dr. Moray of Abernathy, Niel Gow March, Slieveman’s
Clog
11. Highland Dream
12. Reel Made With Hilda, Miss Watson’s, Return To The Cape