yves LF giraud IS A Science-fiction novelist and a singer-songwriter Based IN MAncos, coloraDO.
The short story
I am a singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass player, music producer and a sci-fi novelist.
With true modesty, I would like to mention that, over the years, I have had the honor and privilege to play with many bands and artists, opening for, or sharing the stage with, Chris Isaak, the Doobie Brothers, Sheryl Crow, the Steve Miller band, Marcy Playground, Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians, Ronnie Milsap and others, either as a singer, guitarist and/or bassist. I have toured several parts of the US, and recorded multiple full length albums.
My catalogue of songs counts over 200 originals and 100+ instrumentals.
I have also been fortunate enough to record and produce several artists in my home studio, "Studio M31".
In 2018, I became a published author with my first science-fiction-fantasy novel, KAHNU.
Kahnu is the first book in the series The Guardians of Tomorrow, published by Lonestar Ventures, LLC.
PS: All my albums and books are available online on Amazon and other mainstream sites. Just follow the links on the appropriate page of this site.
I am currently the singer and lead guitarist for Zarfha, an all original Rock-Funk band, and Folk-Jazz trio HORIZON, both bands based in Mancos, CO.
The long, long, long story
Hi, my name is Yves Giraud. I am a full time singer-songwriter/multi instrumentalist who also loves to, on occasion, write a book.
I was born in France. My interest in music began to show itself around my 5th birthday. My mom had an old upright piano at home, and I used to listen to her play Chopin, Mozart, Debussy, Beethoven and other classical composers. As music began to grab my attention and I felt I understood some of it, I began experimenting on the piano, figuring out my own chords and melodies, never wanting to be taught how to play or read music, to the great disappointment of my mother. "It's going to influence me, and I want to create my own compositions."
Having a pretty good hear, I quickly began writing my own music on that old piano. At the age of 9, while in summer camp near the Swiss Alps, one of the adults there pulled out an Ovation to sing songs around the camp fire, and I discovered the acoustic guitar. My family couldn't afford much, so it took another 2 years before I got my first one for Christmas. A non-brand nylon string guitar.
At the age of 13, my grandmother offered me a small keyboard for my birthday, and I formed my first rock band, "Attila", with a few friends in town. None of us knew how to play, but we sure had a lot fun doing it.
Growing up in a small town (the town didn't count 5 thousand people) in the middle of nowhere, my access to music was limited. We had no record stores and my parents never went anywhere, so our music library at home was pretty much nonexistent. But eventually, some school friends exposed me to popular rock artists of the time, like The Police, Genesis, AC/DC, Elvis, Yes, Cheap Trick, the Beatles, U2, Iron Maiden, the Clash and the likes.
At the time. I never thought of learning covers. I had no interest in that, although I could figure out chord progressions and melodies with ease. I was much more interested in the creative aspect of music, composing and writing songs. But I was still influenced by those artists, of course. The next few years were bitter-sweet as I watched my band mates lose interest and move on to the more "important" things in life, like getting a school degree, finding a good job and going out with girls. So I kept writing and exploring music on my own, from punk to jazz, figuring out complex time signatures, unconventional chord progressions, tapping and whatever I could add to my own growth. And for a short while, I contemplated moving to the big city, Paris. At least until I realized France wasn't the best place to be for what I wanted to do.
But everything truly changed for me when I discovered Prince in 84 and the album "Dirty Mind". By then, I knew I had to leave France and move to the US.
In the late 80's, I joined the band Vallance on bass, a power-rock 4 piece that was making waves throughout the south of France. Guitarist Frank Perez and I soon talked about moving to the US. In late 87, I finally quit my day job as a gas station attendant, Frank and I got ourselves a plane ticket and left for the States, a mere few hundred dollars in our pockets. We didn't know anyone and our English was poor, to say the least, but we eventually settled in Hollywood, CA. and reformed Vallance. Within 6 months, we had a management and were close to signing a recording deal with Capital Records, when our singer moved back to Phoenix, AZ for family reasons. The band fell apart, so did the recording contract, and our management pulled out. We were broke and I spent many nights sleeping on benches in parks or wherever I could. Back then, sleeping on a friend's couch labelled you a "Couch slut". I was definitely one of them for a while.
Things eventually got better, and I spent the next few years playing the club circuit in various bands, all through the mid '90's. Clubs such as the legendary Whiskey-a-go-go, the Troubadour, the Gazzari’s, the Coconut Teazer, the GasLight, the DogHouse, Exposure 54, the FM Station, Madam Wong, the China Club and more, some of which have long since closed down... I played electric guitar and/or bass in various bands: Men Without Women, New Improved God, Sleeper, Tongue Dance, F.A.G., The Montana Dave Experiment and others which I have forgotten by now.
I moved to South Florida in '94 and eventually became a full time musician in the early 2000's playing the bar/restaurant circuit around Fort Lauderdale, in various bands: Mad Iguana, Planet Q and the Molecules and Jadestone among others.
After an 8-9 year run with Jadestone, having recorded several original albums, including 4 full length CDs, one of which got pickup by a record label in England, I finally put out my first official solo effort in 2005, a pop-jazz instrumental album titled Flow which I recorded alone in my bedroom in a few days.
That same year, I joined blues-rock trio "The Spoon Benders", a band managed by south-Florida booking agent Judy Blem, and found myself playing 6-8 shows a week. After a great 2 year run, having toured the East Coast several times, and recorded “The Spoon Benders VS the Pandas”, a live album recorded at the Bamboo Room in Lake Worth, FL and "Resurrecting the Giants", a full length studio album recorded in Tennessee and released in 2006, I left the band to refocus on my solo career when the Spoon Benders relocated to Nashville, TN. later that year.
In 2007, I recorded Hello, in Miami, FL. A 10 song original CD showcasing my commercial songwriting, produced by the awesome Fernando Perdomo of Stairway Studios (CA). (Fernando and I played everything, and drums were provided by world class musician Derek Cintron (Enrique Iglesias, Ex Norwegian). The album was officially released in 2010 on Fast Forward Records in Miami.
That same year, I opened my own recording studio in Hollywood, FL. With a great mix of old-school analog and modern digital gear, I began honing my skills as a music producer. The next few years saw several great local artists come through the doors of Studio M31, and I am thankful to all of them for giving me the opportunity to produce their music.
In 2011, I was asked to write the music score for an independent movie company. The Sci-Fi feature was to take place through out our solar system. For the occasion, I wrote several instrumental pieces. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, the movie never saw the light of day, and Spectra sat collecting dust in my closet until I finally decided to released it regardless in 2017.
In late 2013, after many wonderful years touring and playing the South-East Florida circuit with many bands including Jadestone, The Spoon Benders, The DBs, the Makayla Duvall band, Justin Enco, 441, Broken Sound Blvd, The Melodie Hawkes band, the Poor Life Decisions and other artists, I left Florida and moved to the mountains of North Carolina near the small town of Burnsville, an hour north of Asheville. There, after a few months enjoying the piece and quiet of my small log cabin on a creek, writing and recording “The Traveler”, an all acoustic album, I formed the Yves Giraud Band and started playing shows in rural towns along the Appalachian Trail region.
During my time in North Carolina, and after years of wanting to follow in the footsteps of such great science-fiction writers as Arthur C.Clarke, Rene Barjavel, Isaac Asimov, Jules Vernes, H.G. Wells and Ray Bradbury, among others, I also began writing my first science-fiction novel, Kahnu, the first book in the series "The Guardians of Tomorrow". Kahnu is currently available for purchase on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format right here. I have since started several more books, including "The Temple of Zord", "The Star Machine", “The Tower of RoDa”, "SAPIO and the Solar Flare Project", “The Galaxy of Mirrors” and a fantasy PI-mystery series, “Marvin Pollack, Investigator of the Unknown”. A few of them are in the final editing stages as I am writing this. A dozen more books are on the back burner for now, but I am determined to finish them all, someday..."
In spring 2015, I recorded "I'm Your Light", an 11 song album at Reseda Ranch Studio, in CA. co-produced with Fernando Perdomo. (Here again, Fernando and I played almost everything. Drums were provided by Benjamin Lecourt, current drummer for Jacob Dilan’s the Wallflowers.)
In 2016, I joined North Carolina renowned country artist, “Smokey Joe and the South Toe Syndicate”, where I played bass along side guitarist extraordinaire Dale Meyer, until I left North Carolina in early 2018.
In 2018, I relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where I began playing the local circuit at places like George Jones, Blake Shelton’s Ole Red, Scoreboard and others, with up and coming country artist Casey Clark. We also got to travel quite a bit to other states, like Indiana, Oklahoma, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Kentuky, and others…
My latest album, "Everything Can Change", was released that year and includes 12 original songs I fully recorded and produced at my home studio, Studio M31. (There again, I wrote and performed all instrumentation and vocals, except for several drum tracks performed by drummers Andrew Branum, and Brian Bennet.)
In 2019, I joined country singer-songwriter and 2018 Voice contestant, Molly Stevens, on bass. There again, we got to travel and play some great shows across several states. That same year, my girlfriend, Misty Huffman and I bought an RV, a 2000 Damon Challenger 335, which we spent the next few months renovating.
In January 2020, we left Nashville for good and began traveling and living the RV life full time.
In May 2020, due to COVID, we landed in Mancos, CO. We are currently living/working at Mancos State Park. I also run an open mic afternoon at Mancos Brewing Company every 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month (2-6pm).
In 2020, I formed Zarfha, a five piece, all original Rock-Funk band based out of Mancos, Colorado. Performs original songs written by yours truly, playing live shows across South-West Colorado, the band lineup included Corey Duran on drums, Bob Casey on bass, Kerry Wood on keyboard, Willie Perritt on rhythm guitar and myself on lead guitar and vocals. The band was retired for various (mainly personal) reasons, allowing me to concentrate on my latest endeavor, HORIZON.
HORIZON, my latest music act, is an acoustic Funk-Jazz-Rock trio based out of Mancos, Colorado. Playing an array of my more jazz-funk original songs, the band is composed of Linda Gimble Baker on flute and backup vocals, Issac James Kimbro on drums and backup vocals, and myself on acoustic guitar and lead vocals. More on the band here: HORIZON.
I truly appreciate all the people who keep supporting me, my writing and my music by coming to shows, buying CDs, books and giving their love and support, more than I can express.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Every song, album and book sold allows me to keep going and keep doing what I love most: Writing fiction, songs, recording albums and sharing musical journeys with the audience when singing/performing live. I hope you'll join me.
Please also feel free to join the mailing list here: Mailing list on the Contact page to be informed on new shows, CD and book releases and more.
Much love,
Yves~