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Mon Chéri

Mon Chéri’s charismatic stage presence is a must-see, their songs are infectious, fun and heartfelt, and all they hope to do is bring their intoxicating charm to a venue near you, even if that venue is in your basement.

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Hometown	Spokane, WA
Genres	Pop, Rock
Band Members	Patrick McHenry - Vocals/Guitar <br>Caroline Francis ... » more
Achievements
Upcoming Shows	None

Contact Information:	Booking Mon ChÃ©ri moncheri.band@gmail.com 509-710-9631
# Years Experience Performing Live:	3
# Live Perfomances Past Six-months:	100
Market Draw:	Home Market: 76-100; Inland NW: 0-30
Venue History:	Crocodile, The - Seattle, WA The Knitting Factory - Spokane, WA High Dive - Seattle, WA Viper Lounge - Los Angeles, CA The Comet - Seattle, WA
Opener Experience:	Jeremy Enigk; Secondhand Serenade; Eric Hutchinson; Sally Ford & the Sound Outside
Similar Artists:	The Beatles; Simon and Garfunkel; Ryan Adams; Paul McCartney; Sondre Lerche; The Everly Brothers
Performing Rights Society:	N/A
Discography:	Swoon LP—2011; MAlange EP—2010; Colors of Love LP—2009

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About the Artist

Hailing from Spokane, Washington, Mon Chéri have their hearts set on making every show a memorable and fun experience. Since its inception as a 2-piece in 2008, Mon Chéri has blossomed into a full four-piece retro-indie-pop band that loves to have fun....

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San Francsico Live at Macy's - video by Nathan Brand

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Achievements

Needle In The Haystack

Top 10 in Shout It Out with HANSON: Spokane, WA, July 2010

Top 10 in Shout It Out with HANSON: Boise, ID , July 2010

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Press Coverage

Local Lounge - These guys are all about style! by Matt Loi, 103.1 FM KCDA
Mon Chéri grew its roots in late 2008, when Patrick McHenry and Caroline Francis started a musical collaboration. Kurt Olson soon joined on upright bass and Brandon Vasquez added drums, with the band fully formed, writing, and performing live in early 2009. Pat and Caroline harmonize incredibly well. Their on-stage rapport might lead one to believe they're a couple deeply in love, but no, they just share a musical intuition coupled with stellar stage presence. They write some smart love songs and back them up with solid musicianship from all members. Patrick coaxes jazzy chords with a warm, reverberated tone. Kurt keeps the groove on the upright bass...one of the few in town. Brandon has a tasteful, responsive drum style, always listening to the rest of the band.

They have played numerous shows since their start. On any given night they are most likely performing in Spokane. They will soon hit the road, touring in support of their new EP "Mélange," following up from last year's album "Colors of Love." With their skills and relentless itinerary, it's no wonder they have a strong fan base. They swept at the 2010 Sommy Awards in Spokane last month, winning Best Album, Best New Artist, Best Live Performance, and Band of the Year...plus, Caroline won the Best Dressed Sommy! This Sunday they will come by the Local Lounge and perform 4 songs live as a full band plus spin cuts from their new EP, just two days after its official release.

Celebrate latest from Mon Chéri by Isamu Jordan for the Spokesman Review
When Mon Chéri self-released its debut album last year, it wasn’t really Mon Chéri – at least not yet.

Sure, all four members of the local indie-jazz-pop group appeared on the cover art for “Colors of Love,” but only three-fourths of the band performed on the album. Drummer Brandon Vasquez didn’t join the band until the record was finished.

Now the true Mon Chéri – Vasquez along with co-lead vocalist and guitarist Patrick McHenry, co-lead vocalist Caroline Francis, and upright bassist Kurt Olson – delivers its first album of studio material as a fully realized band tonight at a release party for the new EP, titled "Mélange.

Like "Colors of Love" before it, "Mélange" is a diverse collection of songs that center largely on love. Although Mon Chéri has about two albums' worth of material written, the band wanted to do a short record to capture its sound in a compact package.

The first CD wasn't the very best definition of our sound," said McHenry. "We write in all styles and have so many influences. We wanted to portray that on the new EP. There are all styles of rock, jazz, there's a slow bluesy number... We were trying to go with a French them with the title and mélange means a mixgture of incongruent elements. This is a little does of everything we can do."

The six-song EP starts off with the Americana journey, "The Interstate," followed by "Baby Bird Fell," a slow, smoky jazz ballad. "The Mon Chéri Opus" is a sprawling seven-minute-plus epic about floundering youth.

The album's closer, "Wild Things" feature a solo vocal performance by Francis.

The sole cover song, "Daughter," was originally done by Louisiana prog-rock band As Cities Burn. Mon Chéri's version of the song turns it into a lounge cut with a trumpet solo by Olson.

With its alluring vocal harmonies and a dexterous rhythm section, Mon Chéri's Beatlesesque pop sound has made the band a favorite throughout Spokane, and not just at the nightclubs, coffee shops, and wineries where Mon Chéri got its start.

Since growing from a singer-songwriter duet to a four-piece band, Mon Chéri played close to 100 shows at various venues - from the Knitting Factory, to the Martin Woldson Theatre at the Fox, to the Spokane Interstate Fair, to various farmer's markets.

This spring Spokane's indie darlings gear up for their first West Coast tour.

Mon Chéri Mélange EP Release Show by Andrea Williams of Check it out Music
Mon Chéri do make sure to throw a party when they have an EP release; complete with free food, punch, and DJ’s. They love the Dance Parties! The first thing I want to say is KURT OLSON can dance wow.

Both Matt and I and our good friends Dave and Kari were excited to see the show. All of us digg “Melange” a lot, we think the EP has a spread of different tastes. That thought was verified at the show because you could look around the room and see all sorts of age groups and art tastes in each person. You know you are doing something right when your music appeals to so many people. Patrick and Caroline still have this killer chemistry on stage, which just lights up the room and puts a smile on your face. The first leg of the night people were a little afraid to get up and dance even though the band kept encouraging it. However Caroline did manage to get off the stage and get down with a few kids during “Changes.” It always takes a few and then the rest follow in good time; sure enough by the second set the dance floor was packed. I even danced for a song.

Mon Chéri opened with “The Interstate,” then “Pins and Needles” and “All I Have to Do Is Dream;” which by the way they normally open with. Instead of playing the EP in order they played the tracks in order but mixed them in with other tunes of theirs! We heard “San Francisco,” “Baby Bird Fell,” “Changes,” “Daughter,” “Lack of Color”, by Death Cab, “Love is Being Wanted,” “Incubus Succubus,” “Psyche,” “Opus” and so many more! They really got the energy going when they started the second set with Psyche! Thank you for dedicated “Girl From Hawaii” to our best buddy Trucker Dave!

The night was fun, as it went on people let loose and just had a good time. The place was packed with awesome people we love to see like Joe, Kim, Henry, Michelle, Chrssy, Jimmy and more! The DJ’s, kudos to them for playing Deadmau5 at the end of the night – LOVE HIM. I heard the group has more songs they want to record so hopefully we can do this again!!! If you do not have their new EP I recommend you purchase one and put it into you iTunes, it’s a new mix for Mon Chéri.

MTV Music Blog by Needle In The Haystack: Mon Cheri
Washington based indie-rock band, Mon Cheri, describes their sound as "saucy nostalgia engulfed by flames of passion and sugar coated tears, with a shot of tequila." Basically, it sounds amazing. Find out more about their love of dance parties, growing up surrounded by music, and the music scene in Spokane, WA. Who is Mon Cheri? Mon Cheri formed in December of 2008. We started as Wayne Patrick and Caroline Francis (guitar, vocals, harmonies), then Kurt Olson (stand up bass) approached us at an open mic night and asked if we wanted a bass player (and also handed us his poetry CD, which he is AMAZING at). He tried out and passed, on every level, especially after learning around 12 songs in one day! Then Brandon Vasquez (drums) saw us open for Jeremy Enigk and pretty much told us we needed a drummer, and he was going to be that drummer. We were sold, and in January of 2009, we created our official band name... Where did the band name come from? Honestly, Spokane had a HUGE snow storm, and Pat and Caroline were stuck at a hotel with nothing to do but brainstorm. They went to one of those sites that creates band names and spent hours on it, happy with nothing. Then they called Brandon and wanted a name that had to do with something lovey dovey (since a lot of our earlier songs were all about love, good and bad parts of it!) but we didn't want it in English. Both Brandon and his wife Karyn speak French (Karyn is definitely more fluent) and they came up with "my dear", but in french. We decided to make it masculine since there are three guys to one girl... How does it feel to be the MTV Music’s Needle In The Haystack? Semi-unreal. We were reading about other Haystack winners, and we all asked the same thing: "How in the hell did a little band from Spokane get this?!" We're stoked though, kind of puts us on Cloud 9. See link to read more!

Mon Cheri Sweeps the Sommy's! by Band of the Year, Album of the year etc.
Here's the voting results for the 5th Annual Sommy Awards, as decided by more than 750 voters on thesomshow.com Thanks to everyone who turned out, all of the artists, and especially the sponsors, Marcus and Marie Ourada with Dix Corp., The Garland Movie Theater, Seely Soccer Academy, Entertainment Spokane, The Party Transport Limousine Service, The Baby Bar/Neato Burrito, and Unified Groove Merchants. Thanks for the artists who performed, DJ Deseure, Supervillain, Girlfriends, The Globes, Space Opera 77 and The High Holies. along with The Toy Garden, And I Was Like, What? and Shim. Also many thanks to judges, Monumental Booking, KCDA Local Lounge, Check It Out Music, Empyrean Coffee House, Platform Booking, and The Inlander. Thanks to Thuy, Tyson and Rhea and the rest of the paparazzi duty. And BIG thanks to Sommy of the Year recipient Bill Powers and The Blvd. House of Music for their amazing help hosting this year's Sommy Awards. Congrats to Mon Cheri for sweeping the Sommys in four categories including -- for the second year in a row -- Band of the Year.

The Sound Alarm by Mélange Album Review
Mon Chéri originally formed in Spokane, Washington back in in 2008. The band had it’s start as a two piece made up of Patrick McHenry (guitar/vocals) and Caroline Francis (vocals). Since the addition of Kurt Olson (upright bass) and Brandon Vasquez (drums) they have transformed into an exciting indie-pop four piece who draw influences from some of the biggest names in the business such as The Beatles, Jeff Buckley and Simon and Garfunkel. Within the past year they have shown that song writing is no match for them by recording an full length CD as well as their debut EP Mélange. Although still unsigned Mon Chéri have already achieved so much, and it is clear to see this is only the beginning. Mon Chéri have presented another soothing track, both vocally and musically. Paying great attention to detail which certainly pays off in the finished product. Overall the Mélange is a great release from Mon Chéri. You’re taken on a musical journey combined with soothing dual vocals and catching melodic riffs. And just as it ends Francis takes over singing in a mellow yet powerful ending track. It’s a very mellow album rather than an in-your-face overbearing release. It’s a great introduction to Mon Chéri if you have not listened to them before.

Sweet Relief by Leah Sottile for the Inlander
It’s called Swoon — and a more perfect word could not be chosen to describe the sound and aesthetic of Mon Chéri, a band that caught Spokane’s eye three years ago with its woozy, sugar-coated vocals and seemingly infinite supply of smiles and party dresses. But Swoon, the band’s new album, shows more than just that googly-eyed side of this band. It’s filled with toe-tapping, upbeat numbers, but also songs that wrestle with heartache, or lament change — hell, there’s even a song with a line about shooting someone in the head. As they age a little, Spokane’s musical darlings seem to have gotten a lot edgier, packing Swoon with more thick, warm rock tracks than love ditties. With the album ready for release, we got on the phone with drummer Brandon Vasquez to talk about near-death experiences, the importance of showers and recording Swoon with a Grammy winner. INLANDER: Tell us a little bit about Swoon. VASQUEZ: We decided to go with Kory Kruckenberg on this one, in Seattle. So throughout the winter, we kept going back and forth on free weekends to record, which was kind of tough going over the pass with a trailer. We were coming back from Seattle once and it was snowing pretty hard and … we basically started going sideways on the interstate. Luckily Patrick was able to get control. We were scared the rest of the way. It took us about 8 or 9 hours to get home. Call me crazy, but this album seems a lot more rocking than past stuff… Yeah, that was the natural evolution of the band. Once Kurt [Olson] and I joined, we basically learned all of the songs we were playing on Colors of Love. Over the last couple of years, we’ve evolved into… I don’t want to say a rock band, but we enjoy sprinkling some more rocking tunes through the set. All of the songs we voted to go on this album were a little more rock ’n’ roll than what we’ve done in the past. How was recording with Kruckenberg? He is a wonderful person and very easygoing. We were super-pumped for him when he won [a Grammy]. It’s really exciting to say that we’ve worked with a Grammy-winning producer. Last summer Mon Chéri was featured on MTV’s Needle in a Haystack blog. What did that end up meaning for the band? [Laughs.] We’re not really sure, except that we can say that we were featured on an MTV blog. What do you guys have planned for the future? We have a really busy summer. In mid- to late-July we have about 10 or 11 days that we’re going to try to take a tour down to LA. ... rest of article at http://www.inlander.com/spokane/article-16621-sweet-relief.html

Best of 2011 by Leah Sottile for the Inlander
BEST LOCAL BAND (ORIGINALS) Mon Cheri Seriously, folks, Mon Chéri deserves a round of applause for this one. This honor comes after a huge year for the adorable local quartet — one that included a big feature on MTV’s website. But these kids? They ain’t too big for their Spokane britches. “We all love to play music so much,” bassist Kurt Olson says, “and winning something like this is the best icing a cake could get.” (LS) 2nd PLACE: Too Slim and the Taildraggers; 3rd PLACE: Sammy Eubanks

Swoon by Mon Cheri Album Haiku Review by Andrea Williams of Check It Out Music
Album Haiku: Swoon by Mon Cheri Rockin’ Smooth Pop Sound Swoon over the Chemistry Beats Meant For Dancing 4.5 out of 5 Songs we can’t take off repeat: “Too Hard Too Fast,” “Street Preacher,” “Outlaw,” “Changes,” and “Shallow Wake.” I never get the opportunity to just sit down and listen to music, therefore I am forced to listen to music while I work or am in the car, working on the site, and so on. I am so excited to share how funny it was when I was at work and people came to my desk, they would start bopping their heads when I was listening to “Swoon.” It was like the album was contagious and I just loved the effect that a song had on someone who has never heard of Mon Cheri. Now if that doesn’t say something about Swoon! I have spent many days dancing and singing my way through Mon Cheri songs, eps/albums, and concerts yet this one is sticking to me slightly different; and in a good way. The first thing that comes to my mind is how sassy and rockin’ the first part of the album is, it’s so much fun. Then the band is able to bring it down and keep me reeled in as they sway my ears to a more smooth rock sound. After listening to the album front to back at LEAST twenty times I have to compliment on its flow, it’s gorgeous. The album musically has a hint of sexy surliness that I am swooning over; not to mention the harmonies on the album will make you hear their chemistry without even seeing Pat and Caroline sing live in concert. It also doesn’t hurt that the band is fabulous live and every single one of its members and their spouses, even their dogs, are the nicest people. I felt like Mon Cheri has worked really hard putting out new music like hotcakes; and each time they win us (and our family & friends) over. They are enjoyable for all ages and all music fans and that is a rare find. I am bewildered that they are having a CD Release Show at the Bing; I know the Bing Crosby Theater will be glowing with smiles, clapping, laughter, and plenty of dancing all night long! P.S. – I didn’t post a picture of the album cover because I didn’t want to ruin the surprise when you buy a copy on Friday! I haven’t even seen it and I am dying to get my copy because Brandon and the band worked hard on creating the design and photos! Mon Cheri’s CD Release Show is Friday, June 10th at the Bing Crosby Theater at 7:00pm. $10 for entry or $15 for entry and a copy of “Swoon.” Tickets can be bought through Brown Paper Tickets HERE. This will be a show you don’t want to miss!

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