Droit du coeur de la Louisiane - Straight from the heart of Louisiana
| AL BERARD CREDITS/PROJECTS Grammy Nomination for “Best Traditional Folk Music” Recording, 1991 Produced the album titled “Let’s Get Cajun” by the The Basin Brothers Band--arranged, recorded, mixed, edited, and mastered. Public Broadcasting System and West Virginia State Park, 1995 Composed and recorded segments of original music and voice-overs for documentaries. HBO Series--Sopranos, Television Series--Northern Exposure, Movie--Double Jeopardy, 1990’s Several of Al's original songs were used as background cues (BG-CUES) in the above- mentioned series and movie. “Al Berard Teaches...Cajun Fiddle Basics” DVD, 2002 Produced by Tommy Gath and Susi Mills, recorded this 50 minute teaching DVD of interactive instruction organized for replay of sections for beginner fiddle players--lead fiddle and seconding. Jingles for local radio and television commercials, 1990’s Composed, produced and recorded jingles for Budweiser, Whitney Bank, Evangeline Motors, Randol’s Restaurant, Cajun Heartland State Fair, and "Now It’s Cajun" Seasoning Company--Lafayette, Louisiana area. Producer for Various Recording Albums/Artists Produced six albums for The Basin Brothers Band--“Let’s Get Cajun”, “Stayin Cajun”, “Mulate’s Presents The Basin Brothers”, “Dans La Louisiane”, “Deux Violons” (Two Violins), and “Fait a la Main” (Hand Made). Produced two personal albums--“C’est Dans La Sang Cadjin” (“In the Cajun Blood”) --Al Berard and Errol Verret and “Al Berard and Friends”--Al Berard. Produced, recorded and edited the album “Chante Ti Garcon”--Pope Huval. Produced, recorded, and edited the album “Creole Jam”--T-Mamou Band. Produced and recorded sessions for various artists. Recorded for the following record companies: Rounder Records, Flying Fish Records, Swing Cat Records, Polydor Records-- Germany, Beams Records--Japan, Swallow Records and Old Man Records |
| Fiddle Workshops Traveled to fiddle workshops locally and nationwide teaching Cajun fiddle and promoting Cajun music and culture--Cajun/Bluegrass Festival at Escoheag, Rhode Island; Fiddle Tunes at Port Townsend, Washington; Philadelphia Folk Festival at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Louisiana Folk Roots, Lake Fausse Pointe State Park at St. Martinville, Louisiana; Falcon Ridge Folk Festival at Hillsdale, New York; and various school programs locally as well as out-of-state. Collaboration With Various Artists Performed on stage/studio with Sonny Landreth (slide guitar player), Michael Doucet (Beausoleil Band), Errol Verret (accordionist), Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, Balfa Toujours, Hadley Castille, Sheryl Cormier, Calico Cats, Alain Gatay (French performer), Stefan Waggershausen (German performer), Makoto Kubota (Japanese performer), Gangster, The Traiteurs, and Filé--Cajun Dance Band. Festivals/Performances Montreal Folk Festival and Winter Festival, Montreal, Canada; Trois Riviere (Three Rivers) Festival, Canada; Festival du Voyager, Winnipeg, Canada; Cajun Festival, Dalkey Island, Ireland; Festival International des Arts Traditionnels, Quebec, Canada; Festivals Acadiens de Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, Canada; Old Songs Festival, Altamont, New York; International Jazz Festival, New Orleans, Louisiana; Greek Theater, Los Angeles, California; Concord Pavilion, Concord, California; Rainbow Festival, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Leaf Festival, North Carolina; West Virginia State Fair, West Virginia; Cajun Crawfish Festival, Panama City Beach, Florida; Super Bowl Party and Tampa Yacht Club, Tampa, Florida; Crawfish Festival, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana; Little Rock Crawfish Festival, Little Rock, Arkansas; Memphis Crawfish Festival, Memphis, Tennessee; City Lights, Nashville, Tennessee; City Stages, Birmingham, Alabama; Panoply Festival, Huntsville, Alabama; Summer Series Festival, El Paso, Texas; Le Rendez-Vous des Cajuns, Liberty theater, Eunice, Louisiana; Cajun Heartland State Fair, Lafayette, Louisiana; Festivals Acadiens, Lafayette, Louisiana; Le Festival International de Louisiane, Lafayette, Louisiana; Rhode Island Cajun/Bluegrass Festival, Escoheag, Rhode Island; Cajun/Zydeco Festival, Moodus, Connecticut; Le Festival Interceltique, Lorient, France; Johnny D’s, Boston Massachusetts; Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts; Mardi Gras/Northern Rhode Island Arts Council, Woonsocket, Rhode Island; Mardi Gras Ball, Washington, D.C.; Sal’s Rhythm & Blues Club, Johnston, Rhode Island; Blackstone River Theater, Cumberland, Rhode Island; Cajun & Zydeco Mardi Gras Ball/Lagniappe, Providence, Rhode Island; La Bell Epoque, New York City, New York; Great Hudson Revival, New York; Raoul’s, Portland, Maine; Old Orchard Beach Festival, Maine; Bastile DayFestival, Augusta, Maine; Foxwood Theater, Norwich, Connecticut; Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri. Professional Affiliations BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.), 1994 to present ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), 1990 to 1994 (see also www.alberard.com) |
| LISA BRANDE AND MARK TRICHKA Both Lisa (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, vocals) and Mark (mandolins, guitar, vocals), as a married couple for over 20 years, have been performing together, and with other bands, since the early 1980’s. They have been full time touring musicians for the last 17 years, specializing not only in their passion for Cajun and Zydeco music, but also performing for seniors in both Vermont in the warmer months and in Florida and Louisiana in the winter seasons. In that capacity they have studied and performed popular songs from the 30’s through 50’s and also played in genres such as bluegrass through jazz to South American choro music. They have done extensive studio work and have been parts of many, many bands throughout the years. They each have created a solo CD of originals, mixed and mastered in Louisiana by Al Berard. As well as their present duo, Easy Street Duo, they perform seasonally with the Northeastern band Slippery Sneakers Zydeco band, and also with the traditional zydeco Louisiana band, Thomas “Big Hat” Fields, when they are in town, in addition to their newest and most exciting endeavor, “Al Berard Cajun Combo”. The musical interplay of the three musicians gives them great pleasure and focus. MARK AND LISA HAVE PERFORMED AT THE FOLLOWING FESTIVALS, (AMONG OTHERS): New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (Jazzfest); Festvals Acadiens, Lafayette, LA; Gulf Coast Zydeco Festival, Daphne, AL; Beale St. Zydeco Festival, Memphis, TN; Rhythm and Roots Festival, Ninigret, RI; Sunrise Resort Cajun and Zydeco Festival, Moodus CT; Meherabad Performing Arts Center Festival, Ahmednagar, India;. Also they have performed at many concert series in New England, and most major retirement communities on the Gulf Coast of Florida. They have also performed at events in St. John, VI, California, Arizona, Oregon, and Assisi, Italy. See also www.easystreetduo.blogspot.com |
| Awards Grammy Nominated Finalist “Best Traditional Folk Music” for “Let’s Get Cajun” --The Basin Brothers Band, 1991 Cajun French Music Association Winner, "Best Fiddler", 2007 Nominated for “Best Fiddler", 2003, 2009 Cajun French Music Association--Winner, "Best Song", 2006 Cajun French Music Association-- Nominated for “Best Recording”--“Deux Violons”--The Basin Brothers Band, 2003 Cajun French Music Association--“Best Fiddle Recording” for “The Grand Anse Fiddle Song” -- recorded and performed by Al Berard, 1992 The Times Music Award--“Best Country/Swamp Pop Guitarist”, 1989 The Times Music Award--“Best Country Guitarist”, 1990 |
