Hart Rouge

The French-Canadian, folk-based act Hart-Rouge is a family act that began performing in the ‘70s. Hailing from the small town of Willow Bunch, Saskatchewan, the seven children in the Campagne family were instilled with a love and appreciation of their French-Canadian heritage and music by their father. The siblings took the name Folle Avoine and began to perform at folk festivals in their native Canada in the ‘70s. A quartet of the children (Paul, Annette, Michelle, and Suzanne) formed Hart-Rouge, taking the name from the original name of their hometown as well as a type of tobacco smoked by the indigenous people. They released a self-titled debut in 1988 and made waves when their 1991 release, Inconditionnel, received heavy airplay from French-Canadian radio stations. They issued a Christmas album that same year entitled Le Dernier Mois de L'Anne (The Last Month of the Year) and, a year later, they released their first English album, Blue Blue Windows, which included an a cappella version of Neil Young's "Helpless." They continued to record throughout the ‘90s, although the act was pared to a trio when Annette left mid-decade, and the group made inroads into the States with ‘97's Beaupre's Home. Another sister, Carmen, is a popular, Canadian children's performer.