Richard Laviolette

Richard Andrew Laviolette (August 22, 1982 – September 5, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter based in Guelph, Ontario. He released material under a variety of band names, including Mary Carl, Richard Laviolette and His Black Lungs, Richard Laviolette and the Oil Spills, Richard Laviolette and the Hollow Hooves, and Richard Laviolette and the Glitter Bombs.

Early life and education Laviolette was born in Port Colborne, Ontario on August 22, 1982. He grew up in Tara, Ontario and lived with his family on a small hobby beef farm during high school. His parents, Darrell and Marie, were both musical, holding family sing-alongs and jamborees.

When Laviolette entered high school, he was introduced to musicians who did not receive much mainstream exposure, such as Hayden and Elliott Smith. The album cover was silk-screened and machine-stitched by Laviolette and his friends, and his family sang group vocals on the track Fussin' and Fightin'. The Exclaim! review of the album described Laviolette as an "old soul", with a voice that "can swing from a delicate whisper to a guttural bark in the same breath". The album also made a mark locally, with The Record in Kitchener saying Laviolette was on "the cutting edge of the local scene", along with James Gordon's son Geordie Gordon.

Released in 2009, the rock album Aging Recycling Plant was recorded with Pinball House in Guelph by Dan Beeson with the backing band The Hollow Hooves. Several of the songs had been inspired by Laviolette's on Six Nations of the Grand River land, supporting land reclamation efforts near Caledonia. It was recorded by Andy Magoffin at House of Miracles in London, Ontario. You've Changed Records re-released the album on vinyl in 2010. The album began as a project with his father, who had to step away to care for Laviolette's ailing mother who had Huntington's disease. The album was released by You've Changed Records and was produced by Andy Magoffin in Cambridge, Ontario.

In addition to his own releases, Laviolette frequently collaborated with other artists. In 2007 the split EP Hands and Feats with Burnt Oak Records label-mate Jiaqing Wilson-Yang. We Wanna Know, a 2009 collaboration with Sarah Mangle, was followed by another tour and an opening performance at Electric Eclectics in Meaford, Ontario.

Along with news of Laviolette's death, it was announced that a forthcoming album, All Wild Things Are Shy, had been recorded in early 2023 with Scott Merritt at The Cottage in Guelph, Ontario and would be released at a later date by You've Changed Records. It was longlisted for the 2025 Polaris Music Prize, and its song "Constant Love" was longlisted for the Polaris SOCAN Song Prize.

Discography Mary Carl (2005) A Little Less Like a Rock, a Little More Like Home (2006) Hands and Feats (with Jiaqing Wilson-Yang) (2007) Aging Recycling Plant (2009) All of Your Raw Materials (2010) Soundtrack to the Life of a Car Nearly Driving into the Pacific (2010) Over the Roar of the Engine (Richard Laviolette and the Glitter Bombs, 2013) Taking the Long Way Home (2017) All Wild Things Are Shy (2024)