Although only in his late 30s, local francophone musician Edouard Landry is already getting a taste of the empty nest syndrome.
Having started a family at a young age, Landry has two teenage sons, aged 13 and 18. His older son recently moved away to Toronto.
The arc of Landry's family life has inspired his third album, entitled “L'Escalade,” which translates in English to mountain climbing.
The early years of parenting are something of a mountain climb, and sometimes you don't stop to enjoy the view, Landry said.
Side B of the album focuses on finding yourself — through artistic expression, for example — a little later on in your adult years.
“I think it tells a story that I think a lot of people would see themselves in,” said Landry, who describes his musical style on this album as folk-country.
“You leave school, start your professional life, start to have a family, and then where do you find yourself in all that. For me, the steps were kind of reversed. I had a family, then went to school, then started a career.”
This is the third album Landry has released in the past three years, with his first album, Pomme Plastique, coming out in 2015, and his second album, Pomme Plastique II, coming out last year. All three are in French.
Landry has been involved in the local francophone music scene for more than 20 years, and was a founding member of Sudbury band Konflit Dramatik in the 1990s. He released his first solo EP, Montreal/Paris, in 2003.
Since then, he's been pretty busy — he's an urban planner by trade, and worked for the province for about a decade before taking a job with the City of Greater Sudbury a year ago.
But with his sons getting older, he decided it was time to focus on his music career again.
Landry has received some critical acclaim for his efforts, including award nominations this past spring for Pomme Plastique II through the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards and Prix Trille Or.
“It's neat to get some recognition from friends and peers,” he said. “It put wind in the sails.”
An album release event for “L'Escalade” takes place Nov. 17 starting at 7 p.m. at Moose Lodge on Frood Road. Timmins musician Cindy Doire, who's also releasing her third album, will be performing alongside Landry at the event.
The event is organized by La Slague.
Tickets cost $20 for adults, $15 for students and $5 for kids, and are available through the TNO's box office.
The album is available for purchase as of Nov. 17 either at the album release, through online music downloading services such as iTunes or at Cosmic Dave's Vinyl Emporium (vinyl only).
The first single, “Loin de Montreal,” is available for download on iTunes as of Nov. 1.
