When the call came in from Roots Canada to have Charlotte participate in their initiative to feature emerging Canadian artists throughout their stores, her manager glanced at her in her studio, wearing a Roots sweater and knew it was a sign.
Roots has a long musical history, as Raymond Perkins & I reminisce. In their 43-year history, Roots was always tied to music, including Drake, The Rolling Stones, U2 and as Raymond pauses as the emotions rush in, mentions David Bowie.
This year’s choices for #sweatstyle include Ruth B, Tyler Shaw, Jazz Cartier, Scott Helman, HUMANS, Meghan Patrick and EMP.
At first glance, you glance back. Yes, Charlotte that kind of beauty that can turn heads, which is why she has modelled. When you grace the cover of Elle Quebec, you can rightly be called a cover girl. While she only models on occasion at this point, the roots store was filled with Charlotte’s session. A small VIP section in the back of store served hors-d’oeuvres and fresh lemonade, but Charlotte is in front of her small stage greeting friends with big hugs as they enter the store. Her authenticity and down to earth personality is charming despite the fact that her career is lifting off with a recent appearance at Osheaga and Festival d’été de Québec.
Charlotte and her band (Mathieu Sénécal, Benjamin Courcy) take the stage and start us off in French with “Les échardes” off her debut EP Big Boy. The notes on the piano fill the Roots store until we are hit with this bone chilling voice that gave my wife goose bumps. Although I have 50% French Québécois blood in me, I don’t like French music apart from a few acts (Coeur de Pirate, Jean Leloup, Louise Attaques, etc.). At first, Charlotte might sound like Beatrice Pirate, but she has her own style with songs that delve into the R&B, Soul, Pop and even Hip Hop.
Her performance was infused with the essence of Amy Winehouse for her next song, “Big Boy” the first song off the EP. “Like it Doesn’t Hurt” was next with its Hip Hop flavor which highlights the range of her voice. “Dirty Dirty” is the song that Raymond shows off to friends to instantly reel them in to Cardin world, as he mentioned at the outset of the performance. She ended the intimate evening, surrounded by friends and fans of every age group with “Faufile”.
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As she ended the song, we landed back to reality, having been swept into Charlotte’s world for 5 lovely songs.
Charlotte stuck around for pictures and signed autographs, spending as much time with the children then with the adults. Again, a testament to her generous nature.
We left completely satisfied with the evening, grateful to Roots for sponsoring such a wonderful event. Keep your eye on this Charlotte (it isn’t hard to do)…she’s going places, but her Roots will always be in Montreal.
Set List
Les échartes
Big Boy
Like it Doesn’t Hurt
Dirty Dirty
Faufile
Randal Wark is a Professional Speaker and Business coach with a passion for live music. You can follow him on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Photography: Arianne Bergeron (except Charlotte Cardin wearing roots, David Bowie wearing roots)
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