Angela Desveaux

A gifted singer/songwriter, Angela Desveaux's music merges the simple emotional honesty and rich sonic landscape of classic country with the personal focus of contemporary folk and the roots-conscious attack of alt-country. Desveaux was born in Quebec just outside Montreal, but she spent much of her childhood on the island of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. Cape Breton has a rich history of traditional folk music drawn from Irish and Spanish sources, and the island's distinctive fiddle music had a deep impact on Desveaux. Desveaux also grew up on a musical diet of classic country, as her parents were big fans of Loretta Lynn, Roger Miller, Lefty Frizzell, and Hank Williams; they were also amateur musicians, and there would be occasional parties at her home where her mother would sing, her father would play guitar, and her uncle would join in on piano. When she was ten, Desveaux's family returned to Montreal; in her early teens, when her older brother joined a local rock band, Desveaux followed suit and started singing with a handful of local rockers. Desveaux was drawn back to her country roots when she discovered alt-country acts such as Son Volt and classic country-rockers like the Flying Burrito Brothers; she started appearing at open-mike nights around Montreal and sang with bluegrass bands before joining the Sonny Best Band as lead singer in 2001. However, inspired by Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris, Desveaux began writing her own songs and eventually approached Howard Bilerman, former drummer with the Arcade Fire and owner of the Hotel 2 Tango Recording Studio in Montreal, with a demo tape. Bilerman liked Desveaux's music, and helped her assemble a band for a recording project. Brian Paulson agreed to produce the sessions, and Desveaux's first album, Wandering Eyes, was released in the fall of 2006.
— Mark Deming , All Music Guide