The scene had something incredible. A band of furious punks, crest on the head and raging guitar, playing gavottes or plinn revisited in rock sauce. Leader, Loran, former member of the legendary group Bérurier Noir. And, beside these mind-blowing Menhir Chimney Sweeps, as comfortable as if they were in any fest-noz, an elderly woman imposed her voice, her kan-ha-diskan of the most pure tradition. Without dismounting, she even allowed herself to harangue musicians and audience: “I would really like it to move there! Come on Loran, shoot it, gast! ” So was Louise Ebrel, singer of kan-ha-diskan who died on March 30, at the age of 87. A woman who had inherited the most ingrained tradition, but who knew how to make fun of prejudices and a priori to bring her to circles as foreign to her as punk concerts…
Because Louise Ebrel was born in tradition. She was the daughter of Eugénie Goadec, one of the three famous sisters who went up to the Bobino stage in the midst of a Breton and Celtic revival. And even if she claimed, in a meeting for Bretons in 2011, to have “always sung”, they were first covers by Piaf or Mariano to liven up parties and meals. Life has not always been tender with the young woman, widowed at 24, remarried twice, mother of three daughters, a time employed as a maid in Paris - “I cried every night” -, waitress in restaurants or workers at La Bonneterie d'Armor.
"Do you sing with the Béru?"
It is after retirement that she meets young singers who perform the repertoire of the Goadec sisters. She apostrophe one of them, who announces on stage a gwerz he had learned from them: “You better sing it well!” The singer takes her at his word, and invites him to come up to him. It was Denez Prigent. A musical collaboration is born. The singer loves the scene, but does not like to be alone. She therefore accepts all proposals, if she appreciates the person who requests it ...
One day, the ringers Éric Gorce and Richard Bévillon asked him to sing on their new album, for which they also invited Loran. “People asked me: So Louise, are you going to sing with the Béru? But I didn't know who it was! I asked Albert's grandson, my husband, to show me. There, I jumped! I said: Me, it's over, but what are these people! ” And then, finally, Louise lets herself be convinced, gets to know and appreciate Loran. And even, he likes the experience. “What makes me happy is seeing all these young people in front of me. There is none that disrespects me. ”
Louise Ebrel will therefore perform numerous times with Les Ramoneurs de Menhirs. His freshness of mind and his energy mark the public, fond of fest-noz as a fierce pogoteur, who asks for more. Louise, she smiled, thinking of her mother: "If she saw me now with Les Ramoneurs de Menhirs ... I wonder if she's not hitting the ground with her cane from up there!"
Article published in Bretons magazine n ° 164 of May 2020
This article is produced by Bretons magazine and hosted by 20 Minutes.
- Disappearance
- Reindeer
- Music
- Punk
- Bretons
- Rock