Pierre Lacocque
| Pierre Lacocque | |
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Pierre Lacocque at Delmark Records in 2016
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Pierre-Emmanuel Lacocque |
| Born | October 13, 1952 Jerusalem, Israel |
| Origin | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
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| Instruments | Harmonica |
| Years active | 1989–present |
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| Associated acts | Mississippi Heat |
| Website |
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Pierre Lacocque is an acclaimed and internationally renownedblues harmonica player. His style has been influenced by the post-WWII Chicago blues tradition. He entered the Chicago scene in the late 1980s when, among other bands, he performed with The Blue Knights led by Tré, Doug McDonald and the Blue Mirror Band and Lawrence "Lil" Sonny Wimberly and his band, The Blues Invaders.
In late 1991, he and his brother, Michel Lacocque (the band manager) founded Mississippi Heat with three other musicians. It was originally a quartet composed of guitarist-singer Jon McDonald, bassist Bob Stroger, drummer-singer Robert Covington and Pierre Lacocque, harmonicist and bandleader.
Lacocque has since been Mississippi Heat's leader, harmonica player, producer, and primary composer and songwriter for the group. The band's slogan and mission statement is "Traditional Blues with a Unique Sound."
Pierre-Emmanuel Lacocque was born in Jerusalem, Israel, on October 13, 1952 to Protestant Belgian parents. His father—a Judeo-Christian scholar—travelled extensively in his early career. By 1957, Pierre Lacocque had lived in four countries, having spent two years in Germany, three in France, and finally returning to Belgium. From 1962–1963, during his 5th grade year, his family spent another year in Jerusalem. He would later say that a childhood laden with constant relocations contributed early on to a feeling of homelessness.
Lacocque has described his early childhood as sad and tormented. He confided that it led him to question whether he could survive and make it into adulthood.
He recalls his home life as a strict and austere intellectual environment in which he felt disconnected and out of place. His father, to whom he has become very close, valued intellectual pursuits above all, leaving room neither for play nor for interests outside of the fields of Judeo-Christian theology, philosophy, and classical literature.
He said in a 2014 interview: "In the long run, it was amazing that I had that privilege. As a kid, no. It was...severe. I dote on my father...we're very close (now)...and worked it out...I would say that I had a...difficult childhood. I was a sad little boy. I was crying a lot inside me. I was...lonely, even though I was close to my siblings...My father was a rigid man who did not tolerate play, but (encouraged) reading Dostoevsky, and all the heavy guys. So I was exposed to it very, very young...(On hindsight) it was cool, but it did not match who I was mentally...I felt I did not belong."
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Wikipedia