Back in April, the music industry knocked on SOS’s door with a very interesting and generous proposition. Eric Lemoine, who lives along the rural Seine in Ste. Anne, is an avid musician who at the time was in the process of releasing his own instrumental adaptation of the 1970s song Histoire d’antan, originally written by Gerard Jean. Eric approached SOS because he wanted to share the proceeds from his release with our organization in order to help raise awareness about the important work that SOS does to protect, enhance, and maintain the Seine River and its surrounding natural habitat. SOS jumped at the opportunity to embark on this endeavour with Eric.
Four months later, SOS was delighted to meet with Eric at the new accessible dock launch area to accept the $1,000 that his song had generated for SOS and to get to know this charming and charismatic gentleman. Eric shared with us that he was totally surprised by how successful the endeavor was. In addition to public contributions, a few school districts had even donated to SOS. Eric expressed how important it is for youth to learn about the need to protect the natural environment and become involved in environmental issues.
Eric shared that the Seine River was his childhood playground, a world which he enjoyed exploring with his friends. These days, he can be found canoeing and tubing on the Seine with his young son, Joe. Eric has been teaching Joe about our shared responsibility for taking care of the natural environment by doing their own Seine River clean-ups whenever they go out canoeing.
Inspired by the Franco-Manitoban anthem Histoire d’antan, a young Eric learned how to play several string instruments, including the guitar, electric bass, banjo, and pedal steel guitar. Eric went on to become active in the Winnipeg music industry. In 2006, he formed the Dixieland rockabilly quintet The F-Holes, who went on to have three successful albums. He has also performed across Canada with the prairie songstress Little Miss Higgins. Eric’s songwriting skills and musicianship lead to him being featured on the Juno-nominated Bison Ranch Recording Sessions in 2013. In 2017, he earned a nomination for My Home, My Heart on the WMCA and Canadian Folk Music Awards.
We would like to thank Eric for his partnership with SOS. We wish him all the best!
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