The Aurian Haller Band is award-winning poet and singer/songwriter, Aurian Haller, and a talented group of musicians from Quebec City. The sextet mixes up folk, rock and jazz for a contemporary progressive folk sound, featuring a blend of piano, pedal steel, string bass, cello, acoustic guitar and saxophone. At the heart of the music are Haller’s haunting lyrics. Haller has written several books and has won numerous national awards, including the Canadian National Magazine Award for poetry. His songs are reminiscent of Leonard Cohen, Léo Ferré, and Nick Drake.
Poet and singer/songwriter Aurian Haller began writing songs as a teenager in his hometown of Salmon Arm, British Columbia before turning to poetry. His poems have since been published internationally. His second book, Song of the Taxidermist, included a long poem that won the 2008 National Magazine Award for poetry as well as The Malahat Review 2007 Long Poem Prize. Aurian Haller’s musical influences are varied: from the jazzed complexity of Joni Mitchell, to the moody weight of Leonard Cohen, to the mellow pop groove of Ron Sexsmith. Haller plays acoustic and electric guitar and keyboards.
Paul Hinton has performed with a number of Quebec City bands over the past fifteen years. His lush solos and crafted accompaniments give his work a distinctive emotional resonance. Paul plays pedal steel, electric guitar as well as bass, and is also part of a small handful of professional musicians to play the 8-string electric guitar, which integrates both bass and guitar. Paul has participated in a number of recordings; "Keep Hope" 3-4Soul, "Dans ton Salon" Louis Gosselin and "Jay Sewall LIVE!" He draws from a wide variety of musical traditions and regularly plays blues, jazz and folk gigs with the likes of tenor Sax player David Parker and The Dudes of Swing as well as the Jay Sewall Power Trio and the Cajun Blues Band.
Born in Hamilton and raised in Trois-Rivières, Barry Nameth has played with bands in Montreal and Quebec City for decades. He shared the stage with jazz pianist Jacques Faucher in jazz festivals such as Nuits Black and Nuits Bleues. He’s also played with a line-up of singers including Stéphanie Biddle, Geraldine Hunt and Katie Budda. After a few years with the André Dupré Blues Band, Barry joined the Sewall Cajun Blues Band and Glenn Gillis and the Blues Experiment. He also plays with the Celtic band, Rosheen, the Richard Carr Band and David Hart. Barry brings a sensitivity to his drumming that takes into account every dip in the lyrics. In a band like AHB, where the words are a large part of the music, his drumming helps bring them to life.
Jazz musician and composer, Daniel Marcoux, brings a wealth of experience to the band. He’s played jazz festivals in Montreal, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Quebec City, Rimouski and Victoriaville. His most recent jazz ensemble, Le Nonet Daniel Marcoux, has performed his compositions widely and recorded them for Jazz sur le vif for Radio-Canada. Some of the acts he’s played with include: Linda Racine, Lucie Roy, Contrevent, Joseph Maurice, Mary Barry, Neville Peter, Maurice Bouchard, Ron Petrides, Mac Chrupcala, Betty and Stef and Vic Vogel. Daniel plays the five string upright bass, cello and the six string electric bass.
David Parker is a saxophonist, vocalist, and composer whose professional career has spanned more than four decades. He has toured throughout Canada, the United States and Europe and recorded and contributed compositions to 15 albums as a member of The Shuffle Demons (6 albums), Saudade (3 albums), Trio David Parker (2 albums), Sax-o-matic, Jig's Up!, The Dudes of Swing, and The Hockey Project. He is an active member of the Ligue d'impro musicale de Québec. His current project is an original comedic musical "Skates Randolf Gets the Blues," which will have its debut performance in Quebec City in 2024.
Singer-songwriter and violinist, Naïla Haller started singing in bars at the age of thirteen. She has competed several times in the Secondaire en spectacle competitions at the regional level and sings back vocals and some lead vocals for The Aurian Haller Band.