YAN ZED (Jan Zawilski) – Tales of a Musical Journey

Born in Montreal and now based in Drummondville, Quebec (Canada), and performing under the name Yan Zed, I always had music running through my veins. From a young age, I was actively involved in local bands, exploring diverse melodies and shaping my artistic identity through the rhythms of Blues, R&B, heartfelt ballads, and the raw energy of Rock and Country Rock.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, I immersed myself in a wide variety of music, drawing inspiration from legendary artists and bands such as:

The Doors
The Animals
The Rolling Stones
Cream and Jimi Hendrix
Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and the Band
Aretha Franklin
Stevie Wonder
Muddy Waters and the Butterfield Blues Band
Johnny Cash
Willie Nelson
Kenny Rogers

A Life of Purpose and Advocacy

While music was my first love, life eventually demanded a shift in focus. For most of my professional career, I dedicated my time to my family and to promoting the rights and interests of people with disabilities—a field in which I remain highly active today. Living with a visual disability myself, I used my personal experiences as a motivating factor, driving myself to overcome challenges and succeed in my undertakings.

My Musical Renaissance

A few years prior to my retirement, a chance encounter rekindled my musical spark. I connected with some younger guys from work who shared my passion for music. Together, we began playing covers of 60s and 70s classics. This revival woke something deep within my soul , inspiring me to start composing my own original material in both French and English.

Expanding my instrumental talents beyond the guitar, bass, and vocals, I added basic skills on the ukulele, mandolin, saxophone, and banjo. With the support and collaboration of my close friend and fellow musician, Nickolas Paquin, I began recording my original work, ultimately setting my sights on producing full-length albums.

Discography & Current Sound

To date, I have released two distinct projects under LKH Records Canada:

“Génération X Y ZED” (2022) : A French-language album that captures the realities, struggles, and emotions of generations searching for meaning.

“Thrown Into Life” (2025) : A fully English project where I dive deeper into my personal musical universe, playing an original Country sound while maintaining my interest for Blues and ballads.

Today, I seek to evolve as a songwriter , drawing contemporary inspiration from artists like Chris Stapleton, while staying true to the rich, multi-genre roots that first inspired my journey.

Yan Zed

Thrown Into Life

This album has ten tracks of which nine are my original compositions. Six are in the Country family, two are Blues and two others are ballads.

1. Stand My Ground : an original contemporary Country song. In life there are highs and lows. One day, you’re flying on top of the world and the next day, everything comes crashing down. When you finally get back up , you gotta stand your ground.

2. Wanna Go Home : an original contemporary Country song. Some folks spend their hole lives dreaming about getting back home or they may feel nostalgic  about what they left behind back home.

3. Around the Campfire : this song is a tribute to Classic Country music inspired by Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”. Warner Chappell, the publisher of Johnny Cash’s musical legacy, authorized my lyric adaptation of this song.

4. Let Me Be : an original contemporary Country song. In New Hampshire, the state motto is “Live free or die ”. This song is all about preserving the freedom most of us cherish so much to remain in control of our lives.

5. When You Came Into My Life : an original contemporary Country song. Since Sue came into my world 25 years ago, she changed my life for better, brought back my smile, my will to live and my need to give back a whole lot of love.

6. Feel Your Love Alive : an original ballad. When your spouse leaves you after a long and loving relationship, it can be very hard to move on and not experience heartfelt regrets as well as a strong desire to get back together.

7. Thrown Into Life : an original shuffle Blues song. When you look at your life and the situation you find yourself in, you might sometimes wonder: You’re thrown into life but who played the dice ?

8. Gotta Move : an original blues song. When you just can’t take city life anymore, you might wanna escape to the country.

9. This Song : an original ballad. This Song is a marriage proposal. You might want to play it  at your wedding reception or suggest it to someone else.

10. Fall Has Come : an original spiritual Country song with a Classic sound. When you’re in the fall of your life, you may look ahead with some anxiety and wonder what’s on the other side. Your faith may help you and guide you to the light.

To grasp the concept behind the album cover.. the key reference
is the song, “Thrown Into Life”. Its chorus begins with the line:

“You’re thrown into life, but who played the dice?” Thus, on the album cover you see a croupier in a casino throwing dice on a craps table.  

Have also contributed to this album :

Nickolas Paquin :
Recording, Mixing & Mastering
Percussion
Piano (Track 1)
Strings (Track 9)
Bass (Track 5)
Back vocals (Track 1 and 4); 

Erick Paquin :
Guitar solos on track 1, 3, 7, 8;

Guillaume Lehoux :
Piano on track 6;

Suzanne Bergeron :
Back vocals on track 1.