Starting as an acoustic trio, Happenstance has evolved in 2011 and have quickly established themselves as an exciting and engaging live act with catchy and infectious original songs. As a five-piece band their influences of folk, celtic and country-rock music make for an energetic stage show highlighted by the dynamic vocal abilities of Emily Lamarche, who cut her teeth in local musical theatre and choir. The backline consists of experienced Montreal musicians who together have decades of playing experience, from bar rockers to big-band performance.
All Happenstance's members hail from the same small town nestled on the shores of the Ottawa river between Montreal and Ottawa except for Gallagher who has Cape Breton roots and bassist Placier who hails from rural France.
Happenstance has played in several festivals + showcases in Quebec, eastern Ontario and Toronto in 2011. They were crowned the best band out of 120 Montreal competitors at the 2011 Landmark events competition. Indica records president Franz Schuller, local music industry people and Josh Trager of the Sam Roberts band have all been caught off-guard by the Happenstance show. Exclaimed publicist John Asher: "they blew my mind".
2012 promises to be a break-out year; their debut CD "Happenstance" has already sold hundreds of copies at their shows and through word-of-mouth from fan to fan. They are currently booking dates across eastern Canada to support the album.
Their self-titled debut CD "Happenstance" released November 5th, 2011 recorded by Glen Robinson (The Tea Party, Martin Deschamps, Voivid, etc...) is now available on CDBaby, Amazon, Tunecore and iTunes.
Band Members
Emily Lamarche - Vocals
Brian Gallagher - Guitars, mandolin and vocals
Christophe Placier - Bass
Nick Thompson - Drums, percussion and vocals
Joel Weber - electric guitar
