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 Well they're back at it...Helene Bergeron and Louise Arsenault, that is, along with some newly acquired musical friends....from the next generation of young traditionally inspired musicians...right on their doorstep...right here in good old Evangeline, Prince Edward Island.
After ten years of touring the world with the seminal Acadian trad band Barachois, the girls felt the need to reconnect with their home, their families, their other interests and so decided to leave the road and the touring life and Barachois ended. Yet through it all they continued to pursue their primary passion...music. Not just any music, but the music of their fathers, Eddy Arsenault and Alyre Gallant, and the many musical mentors from past generations. The pursuit of Acadian music from this corner of the small Island of Prince Edward (the original French settlers, their forefathers,. knew it as Isle Saint Jean) never ended. On the contrary, the music lives on and has continued to grow and flourish.
Three summers of playing music locally at the Confederation Centre for the Arts, numerous regional festivals and one or two in the US with a gifted bunch of 5 young women musicians (young enough to be their daughters) loosely titled “les girls” has rekindled their passion to take this music once again to the world stage, this time with two of these women, Caroline Bernard and Paige Gallant. Just as Lousie and Helene have inherited their understanding of music from their father and mother's generation, Caroline and Paige have also, but from Louise and Helene's generation.
And so Gadelle has been born. The two musical friends that Helene and Louise have made in this union have combined to make four. Caroline is the daughter of the well known singer/songwriter from Evangeline, PEI, Jeanita Bernard. Caroline's mother has found time to write and perform throughout her life while raising a family and in so doing passed her knowledge of music on to her. Caroline sings with full conviction, a conviction that she surely absorbed from her mother's music. Paige came to music through association with her best friends....five young girls who all took up the fiddle at the same time together at the ripe old age of 8 under the guidance of local fiddler Anastasia DesRoches. These young girls all lived and breathed the fiddle growing up and could often be seen exchanging steps in the early morning while waiting in a group for the school bus to arrive.
So here is Gadelle. This unlikely association of youth, vision, experience and charm has blended into a unique new colour shade of Acadian music. Gadelle is now ready to share the music of this tiny place, their music, with the rest of the world. Please enjoy |
