Granville Bridge: A Vancouver Love Song by Dominique Fricot

My love affair with Vancouver began at an early age, and it took a summer to convince the man I love that it was also worthy of his affections — and worthy of a move from the Midwest to the West Coast.

We spent a summer at the beach, frolicking along the sand, following forest trails, and walking around the city at night to see how many stars we could spot between the neon. When local singer/songwriter Dominique Fricot, who I first met 2012, sent me his latest video for Granville Bridge, it brought me back to the summer of 2005 and the music video-worthy moments I experienced with John.

Since we met in 2012, Dominique placed 3rd in the Peak Performance Project, won Shore 104.3’s Best of BC award, performed at Squamish Valley Music Festival, held a 5th spot on CBC Radio 2’s Top 20 charts, and more.

“I’m in a very positive and optimistic space right now when it comes to love and songs about love,” Dominique told me. “When I wrote and released Haunted by Love (2012) I was in the middle of a break up and, what’s more, a break up that I didn’t want to happen.”

The break up song got quite a bit of airplay in Vancouver, and was another song that referenced the city itself, with Cambie and 16th setting the scene in the first verse.

“I still believe in an ebb and flow with love and or life so I think I’m just in a different phase of the cycle. Granville Bridge is about new love, the excitement and highs of feeling like you’ve found your soul mate. Haunted by Love is about losing somebody you believed to be your soul mate.

The video for Granville Bridge, made with WCMA Award winning director Mike Southworth of Collide Entertainment and costume designer Alannah Turner, stars Vancouver performer couple Siona Gareau Brennan and Alex Strong, and of course the city of Vancouver itself.

Photo by Francesca Tallone

“For me when I write a song it’s important for me to anchor emotions and melodies around images like landmarks or settings. Furniture one might say. I’ve lived in Vancouver for almost 15 years now so it’s quite natural for me to reference places that have provided the back drop for my experiences that I most often try to depict in my songs. When it came to the video, it felt naturally imperative to allow Vancouver’s scenery to play a major role in this song’s video.”

You can catch Dominique Fricot tonight at the Yale Songwriter Night (a Music Heals Fundraiser) and on Friday March 11th at the Fox Cabaret opening for Amelia Curran (a Van Folk Fest Event). Watch his other videos for Our Last Song and I Miss the 80s, and follow Dominique on Twitter. Granville Bridge is available on the album Sweet Little Fantasy.