Special Guests

Special Guests
Saturday, July 6, 2002

Entourloupe

ENTOURLOUPE is a French-Canadian band that combines all the talents of its members to form a "new" kind of traditional music. Though rooted in traditional Quebec music (Quebecois), Entourloupe “has developed a unique understanding of a world where myth and truth overlap enticingly.” In other words, their music is is simple and evocative and frankly, perfect for a warm July night in St. Paul. Their songs tell the stories of their homeland, and we’re glad they’re with us tonight to share them with us.

Entourloupe is Eric Favreau (fiddle, vocals, viola), Paul Marchand (guitar, vocals, feet), Stephane Landry (accordian), and Claude Methe (vocals, fiddle, mandolin). They’ll also be joined by traditional dance caller/stepdancer/choreographer Jean-François Berthiaume, often called a “sort of long, tall, youthful leprechaun of Francophone Persuasion.” Entourloupe’s latest album is Les choux pis des melons (2001), although they’ve each got albums of their own.

For more information about Entourloupe, see their web site at www.vizou.com

Stephanie Davis

STEPHANIE DAVIS has a cattle ranch in the foothills of the Beartooth Mountains in Montana, up where the entire island of Manhattan could be hidden away in a box canyon and lie undiscovered for decades; this doesn't necessarily give a person wisdom but it does offer a certain perspective. She grew up in Bridger, part of a fourth generation of Montanans, and if you've been raised there it draws you back.

She had a successful career writing songs in Nashville and singing and touring, but at some point it all seemed no more important than raising cattle; she still travels, but now writes from a one-room log cabin on the range built by a Finnish bachelor and reclaimed from years of occupation by Angus steers. It's springtime there and wildflowers are blooming, and calves are running around and acting about as silly as cattle ever get. And if you press her on it, she'll admit to writing better than she ever has.

DAN NEWTON plays the Ethnoclectic Accordian, an instrument with a range so broad it takes seven bands to cover it. Paradise Ranch plays western swing; Dot Combo does jazz, ska, blues, hits, and favorite folk songs "of your groovy life;" Daddy Squeeze & the Doctor do old time acoustic blues; Art Carnage is a contemporary jug band; Guys Can Talk do square dances and contradance; Jumbo Ya Ya is a straight-ahead zydeco and cajun band; the Cafe Accordian Trio plays tangoes, bossa nova, waltzes and French Cafe, "the music of passion and romance." Lately passion and romance are at the Minneapolis Cafe on Wednesdays and at Zinc (10th and Nicollet) on Fridays. He also hires out solo in two versions, the very sophisticated Dan Newton Accordioniste and the down-home Daddy Squeeze.

One might think that winning the Nebraska State Accordion Contest in the Czech Festival at Wilber 15 years ago would have been enough for anybody, but it seems to have just set a fire under Mr. Newton, and we¹re always glad to see him on our stage