Brian Asselin’s 15-year music career has not only taken him across Canada, Europe, and the United States, it’s also allowed him to try on various hats.
The saxophonist, song-writer, teacher, and philanthropist has opened for Sheryl Crow, Colin James, Blue Rodeo, Simple Plan, and Pat Travers and toured with various bands, including the Legendary Funk Brothers, The JW-Jones Blues Band, the Temptations, Impressions in Jazz, and Holly Larocque and Mark Ferguson Orchestra.
Born and raised in Ottawa, Asselin first started playing the saxophone in the sixth grade.
“My mom said to pick an instrument, so I chose the saxophone, and my twin brother chose the drums,” he said. “We’ve both stuck with it ever since.”
Under accomplished Ottawa saxophonists Mike Tremblay, Rob Frayne, and Juno award winner Kirk Macdonald, Asselin received his bachelor’s degree in music performance from Carleton in 2004.
“My heroes,” Asselin recalled fondly. “Playing with them was a dream come true.”
An accomplished saxophonist, Asselin said became enraptured by songwriting. For his recent releases, he’s collaborated with Eric Disero, an Ottawa musician and sound engineer. Songwriting together since 2009, their YouTube channel has over half a million views. Their single “Tonight” also won Hot 89.9’s Battle of the Beats.
“We’re coming out with tunes pretty much once every month,” Asselin said. “[Disero’s] fantastic, such an inspiration and force behind the project.”
His twin brother, Jeff Asselin, also plays drums on many of their songs.
Asselin currently leads a double life as a musician and songwriter, along with teaching on the side.
Asselin and Disero’s song “You Have Made a Difference”, available for download and on a four track album, was featured in a commercial for teacher appreciation. It was also covered by many YouTube users.
“You can see people singing it around the world, and it’s like, I’m just this saxophone player from Ottawa, what’s going on?” Asselin said.
Asselin donated 50 cents from every album sold to Teachers Without Borders.
“I had so many teachers who helped me be a better person and look at the world a different way,” he said. “To be a musician and make a living, you have to have your hand in a lot of cookie jars. You have to kind of do a bit of everything, especially teaching.”
Asselin said he teaches almost every day, either as a theory professor at Algonquin College, from home, or through the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board system.
Asselin and Disero’s recent song “I Will Remind You” is a tribute to those affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Dedicated to a family member of Asselin’s who has the disease, half the proceeds from the song were donated to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.
“I try to give back as much as I can. I don’t really make a lot of money as a musician, but I still feel the need to give back to the community, and give back to the things I want to support. That’s been teachers and the Alzheimer’s Association,” he said. “The only way I can do that is through music, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Asselin said he plans to release a new song, “Pay it Forward,” in the next few weeks. Putting an album project on the backburner for a bit, Asselin will soon go on tour for his jazz music. He’s writing more pop music and experimenting digitally, as Asselin and Disero do their own video production, recording, music, and sound production.
“Playing guitar and songwriting is something very new to me, and I love it just as much as playing the saxophone,” he said. “If I could spend eight hours a day songwriting, I would.”
