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Josee Vachon performing at the Northern Roots Festival, 2018, Singer, 2020
Josee Vachon
Framingham, MA
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Josee Vachon performs a varied repertoire of songs in French, accompanying herself on guitar, spoons, and the traditional foot-tapping rhythm. She was inducted into the American-French Genealogical Society Hall of Fame in 2007 and has earned her place as a true ambassador of Franco-American heritage and culture.. A Québec native transplanted to central Maine as a child, Vachon was raised in a musical household rich in traditional singing. The repertoire included chansons à répondres (call-response songs), learned from the Beauce region of Quebec, as well as French country ballads and radio songs of the 1930s and 40s.
In addition to singing at family gatherings, she began performing publicly with the support of the Franco-American Center at the University of Maine. There she discovered others who shared her rich heritage. After graduating, she continued to perform, quickly gaining recognition throughout New England communities with strong French-Canadian ancestry, performing in former mill towns, at parish soirées, and at cultural celebrations such as Lewiston's Franco-American Festival and the Lowell Folk Festival.
Josee Vachon has recorded 12 solo albums in French and had an 11- year stint as host of Bonjour! (1987-1998), the most widely seen French language cable TV show produced in the U.S., airing in markets from Maine to Louisiana as well as in Canada. She co-founded the trio Chanterelle in 1994 to grow new audiences outside of the Franco-American community. Their 1997 CD Soirée chez nous gives the listener the feel of a true Franco--American house party, with songs, fiddle tunes, even a last party track. Josee Vachon was named an Artist Fellow in the Traditional Arts by Mass Cultural Council in 2020.
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