ARTIST LEGERE

"Phoebe Legere is a transdisciplinary artist. Her multi-format artworks issue from a powerful and intimate internal voice."
~The Brooklyn Rail

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Phoebe Legere Releases New Single "L'Acadie"



New Single: L’Acadie
Genre: Acadian, World Music
Band: Legere and Legere 
Composer: Phoebe Legere
Date: August 6, 2014 

WATCH THE VIDEO:  "L'Acadie"


PHOEBE LEGERE’s L’ACADIE was written to celebrate the Congress Mondial Acadian 2014 August 8-24th, Edmundston, N.B.

About the song, “L’Acadie!” by Phoebe:

The Legere family is one of the 17 original Acadian families. All Legeres are descended from a drummer who worked for Louis XlV. I was born in the US but I have spent my life trying to make people aware of French Culture in America.

I had help with my French from the great French Canadian poetess Guylaine Tousignant. We spoke French and English over Skype and worked hard to get the right flavor and meaning! It was fun! Canadian virtuoso, cousin Ray Legere brought musical magic to my song! I must also thank Mick Oakleaf who recorded my voice, washboard and accordion. 


I will sing L'Acadie at the Legere Family Reunion August 17 in Edmundston, New Brunswick during the Congrès Mondial Acadien 2014.

PHOEBE LEGERE BIO 

Part Native-American, part French-Canadian, Phoebe Legere is steeped in the Acadian musical traditions of her grandparents, as well as the tribal and cultural traditions of the Penobscot/ Abenaki tribes of Maine. Those traditions were a joyful and vital part of her Massachusetts upbringing.

"On a Sunday, the Legeres always got together with the Robichauds and the LaBlancs, and we'd make music. The air would be full of the mouth watering smells of tourtiere, salmon pie, ployes, cretons and baked beans.

"A typical gathering would feature my Grandpa Jean-Philippe on accordion, Tante Rosalie on spoons, Daddy on fiddle and a bunch of the boys pounding out a rhythm with their feet. We often played music written by folks in the family, including 'Father Legere's March,' which I still play in my shows."

Thus, Phoebe's fantastic musical journey began. It would take her to Vassar and the Juilliard, to the legendary East Village performance art scene of the late 1980's (her friends would include

Allen Ginsberg, Spaulding Gray and Hunter Thompson), to the top of the cabaret world (piano bars from New York to Nairobi to Singapore to Hong Kong would have their ivories tinkled by Phoebe) to Avery Fisher Hall where she appeared as Guest Soprano soloist with an 80 piece orchestra. 

Today she is an exciting presence at folk festivals, from Bread & Roses in Lawrence to the Blueberry Festival in Wilton, Maine to the River to River Festival in New York City. And, her musical bloodlines are as strong--and as ubiquitous--as ever. The name Legere is ever-present in Canada, New England and Louisiana, and it should surprise no one that many of those Legeres are accomplished and acclaimed musicians. (Her cousin Jesse is a famous accordionist; another relative, Ray,t he virtuoso fiddler, is featured on this song.)  
Phoebe Legere’s concerts feature both stories and songs of the Native-American and Franco-American experiences, including the heartbreak of the first great North American pogrom, the expulsion of the Acadians from Acadia to Louisiana in 1755. But even here, the message is one of inspiration, passion and hope. "I show how the music stayed alive and kept us together during the long years of our struggle. French culture is coming back in America."

Leading the way is Phoebe Legere, entertaining and enlightening all who are blessed to see and hear her. You don't need to know French to love Phoebe. 

- Hartley Pleshaw

Visit http://www.cma2014.com to learn more!


An original World Music song ©words and music Phoebe Legere 2014
L'Acadie
©Phoebe Legere 2014!

 Sing Along!
Nous dansons au rythme d’un ancien tambour
Une descendance qui veille sur notre amour
J’entends encore ses pas sur la terre
L’écho de sa voix sur la mer
Nous chanterons encore longtemps, mon père :

Oh l’Acadie, l’âme de nos vies
De nos familles, t’es mon amie
Oh l'Acadie, notre beau pays
L'Acadie, ma poésie

Malgré les troubles et les tempêtes
Par les forêts et les grands froids de la conquête
Nos cœurs toujours se rassemblent en fête
Sur cette musique qui nous caresse
Du rivage de nos tendres jeunesses :

Oh l’Acadie, l’âme de nos vies
De nos familles, t’es mon amie
Oh l'Acadie, notre beau pays!
L'Acadie, ma poésie

Tu es mon cœur et dans le ciel ma bonne étoile
Je suis ton rêve et dans le vent je suis mes voiles
Je te porte en moi à travers le monde
Maris Stella, ma foi, toujours avec moi
Je chante encore pour toi, ma mère, avec une tendre joie :

Mère Acadie, l’âme de nos vies
De nos familles, t’es mon amie
Oh l'Acadie, notre beau pays
L'Acadie, ma poésie



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