Grand Dérangement (band)
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Grand Dérangement is a music group from Acadia—more specifically, the Baie Sainte-Marie area of southwestern Nova Scotia—whose style is influenced by elements of Acadian folk music, American country, folk and rock styles, Celtic music, French chansonniers, and even Broadway showtunes. Their name, meaning "great disturbance", comes from the French name for the Great Expulsion of Acadians by the British in 1755—a major turning point of Acadian history—but also refers to the group's desire to "rouse its audience."
The group's vocals are in varying dialects of French, ranging from a fairly neutral standard to the dialect of Acadian French spoken around the Baie Sante-Marie.
The group has been touring around the US, Canada, and Europe (mostly France, Switzerland, and Germany) since their early days
Briand Melanson, Daniel Leblanc, Jean-Pascal Comeau, Armand Dionne and Charles Robicheau have also been studio and live musicians for artists such as Luc Tardif, Nathalie Geddry, Jeanne Doucette-Currie, Jean-Étienne Sheehy, Annick Gagnon, Natasha St-Pierre, Alphonse Melanson, Jacobus & Maleco or Etienne Deschênes and events as Le Gala des Prix Éloize, Le Gala de la chanson de la Nouvelle-Écosse or the Church Point Tsunami Fundraising Concert.
Briand Melanson and Daniel LeBlanc are former members of pop/rock band "Chatouille Ma Bourrique" which plays every now and then in local clubs, Briand toured across Canada with the band "New Voyageur", Jean-Pascal Comeau was bassist for "Les Zoublioux" and Charles Robicheau has played in several hard rock bands such as "U4EA", "Yukon Jack" or "G-Strung".
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[edit] History
In the 1990's, after quitting the band Blou, childhood friends Daniel LeBlanc and Briand Melanson got with local artist Michel Thibault to work on a concept he made consisting of Music and Scenic Arts. Michel, Daniel and Briand recruited well known pianist Jackie Comeau and started to work on their first album. In 1998 the band (Which consisted of Briand Melanson, Daniel Leblanc and Jackie Comeau) released its first album "Tournons la page" which has helped the band to become one of the most popular bands in the maritimes. In 2000 the band released its long awaited second album "Danse dans les flammes". With influences of Traditional music, Rock, Pop, Folk, etc... They have toured North-America and Europe in support of this album, which has been described as one of the best acadian albums ever released. During the tour, Jackie Comeau could not be involved anymore due to health issues. He has been replaced by Armand Dionne from Grand-Falls, New-Brunswick. Also the band hired Jean-Pascal Comeau to hold the bass/electric guitar duties due to their growing populairty. In 2004 the band participated to a contest for the theme song of the World Acadian Congress and Grand Dérangement's "Je reviens au berceau de l'Acadie" won the honors. They have released the EP "2004" which included the hit single "Je reviens au berceau de l'Acadie",a new song and some re-recorded versions of old hits featured on the first album with a more modern tone and to give place to their new and latest album "Dérangé". Also released in 2004, "Dérangé" is their most rock album up to now. The album which has been recorded exclusively in Jean-Pascal's studio has received great radio airplay and brought Grand Dérangement to the rank of superstars in France. Since then, Charles Robicheau joined to participate in tours and got the stage show of Grand Dérangement to evolve once again. "Plane un aigle" has been released in France in late 2005 including songs from Dérangé and 2004.The band has had several step-dancers to give a more artistic side to their live show. The dancers unit is now consisting of Erin Westby (Who recently joined the band), Christiane Thériault (A member since the early days) and Jean-Pascal Comeau. The band is now working on their new album while touring extensively in France. The band recently hired a film crew to catch the live feeling of Grand Dérangement during their comeback in their hometown for the Acadian's National Holiday. A DVD is planned for November 2006.
[edit] Albums
- Tournons la page (1998)
- Danse dans les flammes (2000)
- 2004 (2003)
- Dérangé (2005)
- Plane un aigle (French Release) (2005)
- Live DVD (due November 2006)
[edit] Members
The current members of Grand Dérangement are:
- Daniel LeBlanc (Fiddle, Guitar, Vocals) — Degree received from the California Guitare Institute of Technology
- Briand Melanson (Percussion, lead Vocals) — Degree received from the California Percussion Institute of Technology
- Armand Dionne (Keyboard, Vocals) — Bachelor in music from l'l'Université de Moncton
- Jean-Pascal Comeau (Bass guitar, Step dance) — Studied at the California Bass Institute of Technology
- Christiane Theriault (Step dance)
- Erin Westby (Step dance)
- Michel Thibault (Songwriter, Composer, Producer, Co-arranger, Artistic Director)
- Charles Robicheau (Guitar)
Past members include:
- Jacques (Jackie) Comeau (Keyboard)
- Natalie Robichaud (Step dance)
- Michelle LeBlanc (Step dance)
