Members

Michael Allard-Guitar and Vocals

Michael Allard has been studying electric guitar for 5 years. It all started when he played a small talent show in the 6th grade where he was met with many compliments and encouraging comments to stick with it. So, he did. Over the years, he began to develop his own style from the analysis of his biggest influences who include Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Ten Years After, Mike Bloomfield, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Alex Lifeson, John Jorgenson, B.B. King, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, John Baldry, Hubert Sumlin, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and many, many more.

All the while, he continued to play at different talent shows, showcases, benefits and just about anywhere he could to get out there and get some performance experience. He has also been studying under the wing of Mark Edgerly (Lead Guitarist from Pondering Judd) for the last 5 years and has been introduced to a wide variety of styles, techniques, forms, and theory. More recently, he has been doing some solo work under the name "Mallard". It started as an independent study at school to record, engineer, produce, and publish an album himself. The product was his first ever released album, "Three More Days". Check it out on the Mallard MySpace and CDbaby.com.

He felt the need to collaborate and produce some kind of power trio with a deep rooted base in the blues. After Zac confronted him about getting together to form some kind of project, they jammed with Ian and found the missing piece. Together they fill a need for great music that anybody and everybody can enjoy.

Zac Arnault-Bass and Vocals

With every band there has to be a bottom. A glue that keeps it together, and in Cantonese Traffic that glue is Zac Arnault. Zac was born in Rochester, NH has been studying the Electric Bass for over 4 years, and has more recently started studying Double Bass. What makes Zac unique as a bass player, and musician, is that he’s not necessarily  influenced  by phenomenal bass players, but by phenomenal musicians. Some such influences include: Ten Years After, Blue Cheer, The Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, Cactus, Miles Davis, Humble Pie, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Taste, Sublime, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, MC5, The Allman Brothers Band, Santana, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Blind Faith, Cream, The Groundhogs, The 13th Floor Elevators, Jimi Hendrix, The Electric Prunes, The Blues Image, The Blues Project, The Blues Magoos, and many, many more. In addition to these many influences, Zac has also had the honor of studying with both Terry Keller and Rob Gourlay, both of whom are incredible musicians that have helped give Zac his unique sound.

Zac formed or joined many bands through the years, many or which he still plays with from time to time, and some of which he can’t even recall. Here’s a brief attempt of explaining Zac’s “band history” so you can see what led up to the formation of Cantonese Traffic. Zac’s first few bands were very rough sketches, and Zac himself has said he can’t even recall who they were, just that they existed. It wasn’t until the 7th grade that his first real band (known at the time as The Gushers) was born. The Gushers went through quite a number of name and member changes before settling on the name Feedback a year later. At this point the members included; Zac Arnault, Corey Ross, Will Ketcham, Zac Bean, Bobby Cotter, and Grant Lebs. After another year the line-up made it’s last change settling on; Zac Arnault (Bass and Vocals), Grant Lebs (Guitar), and Ian Martin (Drums). This line-up also lasted for about a year, until Zac confronted fellow musician Mike Allard about starting up a project together. It was no secret that Mike and Zac possessed a pure hatred for each other at one point, but they also saw the indisputable talent that the other held. Mike, along with Feedback drummer Ian Martin, graciously accepted. So now a new band was born, and an undeniable chemistry was created that was like no other any of the musicians had previously experienced. (For a complete listing of Zac’s current bands, and solo material please check out www.myspace.com/ZacArnault.)