William Deslauriers

William Deslauriers is a Canadian pop singer/songwriter who rose to fame on the reality television series Star Académie in 2009 and made his smash hit album debut with Un Pied à Terre the following year. Hailing from Plessisville, Centre-du-Québec, Canada, he was taught to play guitar by his uncle. He later formed the punk band Silver Catalyst with some of his friends prior to pursuing a country-folk singer/songwriter style informed by two of his favorite artists, Jack Johnson and Vincent Vallières. One of 14 contestants who competed on the 2009 season of Star Académie, Deslauriers fell well short of first place, as he was eliminated in the seventh week, tying for sixth place, but he garnered a loyal fan following in the process. Three of his live performances from Star Académie, "Recommencer à Zéro," "Moisi Moé'ssi," and "Le Bord de l'Eau," were released digitally. Moreover, his version of "Moisi Moé'ssi," a song by former Galaxie 500 frontman Fred Fortin from his acclaimed solo album debut, Joseph Antoine Frédéric Fortin Perron (1996), was featured on the various-artists compilation Star Académie 2009. In association with the label Productions J, Deslauriers made his solo album debut with 2010's Un Pied à Terre. The album was produced by Scott Price under the artistic direction of Stéphane Laporte. Comprised entirely of material written by the singer/songwriter himself, plus his version of "Moisi Moé'ssi," Un Pied à Terre was a number two smash hit on the Canadian albums chart. ~ Jason Birchmeier