Mason Ladouceur has a rock and roll soul.
It’s evident throughout his band’s new album, World Full of Trouble, a 15-track gem highlighting the talents of Ladouceur, Gabriel Grigorov and Wilford Hall. Together, the power trio are The Unknown, which is a touch ironic, because the band is becoming better known all the time.
You can catch them live at the Fraser Tavern in North Bay on Saturday, Jan. 18. The show begins at 10 p.m.
A labour of love, World Full of Trouble was recorded piecemeal over two years. It was mostly recorded and mixed within Ladouceur’s garage at his Mattawa home.
Now that the album is in the can, Ladouceur said “It feels unreal. I’ve been waiting to put something out for a while. It solidifies a lot of artistic ideas and people can listen to the whole record instead of just separate songs.”
You can hear the album for free on Spotify, and Ladouceur hopes to release a physical copy one day. He and the band also plan to hit the stage more this year to promote the new record.
Ladouceur is no stranger to the stage. Besides fronting The Unknown, he also plays keys and guitar with Roadhouse and is a member of Children of Metal as well. “For years I’ve been touring around with different bands,” Ladouceur said. “And people didn’t think of me as a songwriter because I didn’t have a lot of songs out, I wasn’t releasing many. But now that I have all of this out, I feel like I can express myself musically and people can get a taste what the band’s about.”
See: Local band about to drop second album
The Unknown’s World Full of Trouble is full of infectious hooks and melodies that stick with you long after the track fades away. There’s a little bit of a Boston vibe throughout, with a touch of Jeff Lynne production values for good measure. There are melodies that would make any Beatles fan smile, and while listening, you may detect some shades of The Piano Man himself, Billy Joel.
“Billy Joel is actually one of my biggest influences,” Ladouceur said. The title track of The Unknown’s new album was written as a tribute to Joel’s music.
Ladouceur, Grigorov, and Hall have been jamming together and playing in The Unknown since they were in high school. Ladoucer noted, “We played together all of the time, and it was only in the past couple of years that we started to market ourselves.”
Now they have an album to help spread the word, sure to introduce many more to The Unknown.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
