Julie Doiron

Julie Elaine Doiron (born June 28, 1972) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian heritage. She has been the bassist and co-vocalist for the Canadian indie rock band Eric's Trip since its formation in 1990. Doiron has also released ten solo albums, beginning with 1996's Broken Girl, and is also the lead singer for the band Julie and the Wrong Guys.

Early life Julie Elaine Doiron was born in Moncton, New Brunswick. She graduated from École Mathieu-Martin, a francophone high school in Dieppe, in 1990.

Career Doiron started playing guitar (later switching to bass) in Eric's Trip at the age of 18, having joined the band at the insistence of her then-boyfriend, Eric's Trip guitarist Rick White. Shortly before the band's break-up in 1996, she released a solo album under the name Broken Girl, which followed two previous 7-inch EPs ("Dog Love, Pt. 2" & "Nora") also released under that name. All of her subsequent material has been released under her own name. She started her own label, Sappy Records, to release several of her solo efforts. Although most of her solo material has been written and performed in English, she also released an album of French language material, Désormais, as well as several EPs of material sung in Spanish.

Julie Doiron playing with Eric's Trip in Saskatoon, 2001In 1999, Doiron performed at the 1999 Stardust Picnic festival at Historic Fort York, Toronto. That year she recorded an album with the Ottawa band Wooden Stars, which was the first time she had worked with a band since the end of Eric's Trip. Also in 1999, she was featured in a film, entitled Salt, which was filmed that fall. The film was created by the National Film Board of Canada, and released in 2000. She shared a Juno Award for Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars in March 2000.

Eric's Trip reunited in 2001, and have played shows periodically ever since. She has also appeared as a guest musician on albums by The Tragically Hip (2000s Music at Work), Gordon Downie (2001's Coke Machine Glow, 2003's Battle of the Nudes and 2010's The Grand Bounce), and Herman Düne. In 2006 she helped launch SappyFest with Paul Henderson and Jon Claytor as an extension of the reinstated Sappy Records. She has also released a split record co-credited to the alternative country band Okkervil River, and collaborated with Frederick Squire and American musician Phil Elverum on the 2008 Mount Eerie album Lost Wisdom. She played with indie rock band Shotgun & Jaybird until their demise in 2007. She also played drums as part of a short-lived duo with Fred Squire. Initially called "Blue Heeler", they changed their name to "Calm Down Its Monday", and released a split 7-inch EP on K Records, with two solo Doiron songs on the flip side.

Apart from her musical career, Doiron is an avid photographer, having published a book of her photographs entitled The Longest Winter with words by Ottawa writer Ian Roy. She often does her own promotional photos and cover artwork along with her ex-husband, painter Jon Claytor.

Her album Woke Myself Up was shortlisted for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize.

In 2009, Doiron told a reporter from The Strand, a college newspaper at the University of Toronto, that she and Chad VanGaalen were exploring the possibility of collaborating on an album. She appeared on a track from VanGaalen's EP of Soft Airplane B-sides that year, but no further news pertaining to a potential album collaboration has been released.

During the tour to support the 2009 album I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day, the mayor of Bruno, Saskatchewan proclaimed June 7, 2009, as "Julie Doiron Day". Doiron performed at the local All Citizens arts centre on that day.

Over the three-year period between I Can Wonder and her 2012 album So Many Days, Doiron moved several times, residing at different times in Montreal, Toronto and Sackville. While living in Toronto, she had difficulty making ends meet due to the city's high cost of living, and began teaching yoga classes, and performing a weekly residency at the Saving Gigi club, to help pay the bills.

In July 2014, Doiron's song "The Life of Dreams", from I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day, appeared in an iPhone commercial.

In 2016, Doiron collaborated with musicians Jon McKiel, C.L. McLaughlin, Michael C. Duguay, James Anderson and Chris Meaney on the project Weird Lines, whose self-titled album was released on Sappy Futures in July. She then collaborated with Eamon McGrath, Mike Peters and Jaye Schwarzer on the project Julie and the Wrong Guys, which released a self-titled album in 2017 on Dine Alone Records. In 2017 and 2018, Doiron has also released several EPs of Spanish language renditions of her own previously recorded songs.

In 2021, Doiron released the album I Thought of You. Her first full-length solo recording in nine years, it includes musical contributions from Daniel Romano and Dany Placard. In February 2025, the Numero Group announced a campaign to reissue Broken Girl on vinyl for the first time and Loneliest In The Morning back in print for the first time since its initial release cycle in the 90s. The Numero Group also announced that Doiron would be joining the line up for the Numero 22 anniversary show in April 2025.

Personal life Doiron has moved several times throughout her career, living in Montreal for six years until moving to Sackville in 2004 with the release of Goodnight Nobody. When she was married to Jon Claytor, they had three children. As of 2022, Doiron was in a relationship with Quebec-based musician Dany Placard, with whom she released a collaborative album Julie & Dany that year.

Discography Studio albums Solo albums +List of solo studio albums, with release date and label shown Title Details Broken Girl Released: April 1996 Label: Sub Pop, Sappy, Jagjaguwar Format: CD Loneliest in the Morning Released: September 1997 Label: Sub Pop, Jagjaguwar Format: CD, LP Désormais Released: 2001 Label: Jagjaguwar, Endearing Format: CD, digital download Heart and Crime Released: 2002 Label: Jagjaguwar, Endearing Format: CD, LP Goodnight Nobody Released: 2004 Label: Jagjaguwar, Endearing, P-Vine, Acuarela, Vicious Circle Format: CD, LP Woke Myself Up Released: January 23, 2007 Label: Jagjaguwar, Endearing, Acuarela Format: CD, LP I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day Released: March 10, 2009 Label: Jagjaguwar, Endearing, Think Format: CD, LP So Many Days Released: October 23, 2012 Label: Aporia Format: CD, LP Canta en Español Vol. II Released: 2017 Label: Acuarela Format: LP Canta en Español Vol. III Released: 2018 Label: Acuarela Format: LP Canta en Español Vol. IV Released: 2019 Label: Acuarela Format: LP I Thought of You Released: November 26, 2021 Label: You've Changed Format: CD, LP

Collaborative albums +List of collaborative studio albums, with release date and label shown Title Details Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars Released: 1999 Label: Sappy, Tree, Jagjaguwar Format: CD, LP Julie Doiron / Okkervil River Released: July 23, 2003 Label: Acuarela Format: CD Lost Wisdom Released: October 7, 2008 Label: P. W. Elverum & Sun Format: CD, LP Daniel, Fred & Julie Released: December 1, 2009 Label: You've Changed Format: CD, LP Julie & the Wrong Guys Released: September 8, 2017 Label: Dine Alone Format: CD, LP Lost Wisdom pt. 2 Released: November 8, 2019 Label: P.W. Elverum & Sun Ltd. Format: LP Julie & Dany Released: April 29, 2022 Label: Simone, Costume Format: LP Together Released: July 18, 2026 Label: Blue Fog Recordings Format: LP

Extended plays +List of extended plays, with release date and label shown Title Details Dog Love Part II Released: 1993 Label: Sappy Format: LP Nora Released: 1995 Label: Sappy Format: LP Will You Still Love Me? Released: 1999 Label: Tree, Jagjaguwar Format: CD

Singles +List of singles as lead artist Title Year Album "Who Will Be the One" 1999 Heart and Crime "Love Without Possession" 2019 Lost Wisdom pt. 2 "Belief Pt. 2" "You Gave Me the Key" 2021 I Thought of You

Guest appearances + List of guest appearances, with year, other artist(s), and album Title Year Album "So Fast" 1996 More of Our Stupid Noise "On the Road Again" 2010 Subterranean Home Sick Blues: A Tribute to Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home "Missing You" 2016 Palace Blues "I Don't Know" 2021 Through the Soil

Other charted songs +List of other charted songs, with selected chart positions Title Year Peak chart positions Album USBub. USRock "August 10" 1996 24 15 Broken Girl

Notes and references